Chapter 4 – Bring Back What Once Was Mine
Some of this is from Episode 22: A Land Without Magic from Season One of the show. You will recognize some of the dialogue between Charming and Rumpel as the same from the show.
Rapunzel poked her head outside of the door, looking both ways before her and Charming stepped outside of the door way and out into the clearing of the forest. Charming stepped out after her, glancing at the stone graves once more. He looked to Rapunzel's back, staring at the long braid that past her waist. She walked with her eyes wide, alert. What was the worry? There was no one in this forest.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Charming asked, raising a brow as he came in step beside her.
Rapunzel looked up into his eyes, shaking her head slowly, "I'm just being cautious," she swallowed, gripping the hilt of her sword tighter. She was lying, Charming could tell. He could see the fear in her eyes. Charming again glanced over to the two gravestones, wondering who they could have belonged to.
"So," Charming started, but Rapunzel put up her hand, silencing him. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his sword, ready for whatever was to jump out at them. He heard nothing, saw nothing. Charming knitted his brows in confusion, "What? What's there?"
"Shush," Rapunzel hissed, whipping her head around towards him, "We will not speak until we are out of this clearing."
"Why? What are you afraid of?" Charming asked, laughing lightly.
"I am afraid of nothing," Rapunzel snapped, shaking her head, "Now shush and let us move on," she turned on her heel, stalking away from him.
"I shall ask once more," Charming started, but didn't get too far before Rapunzel had turned around, her arms crossed over her chest and an angry expression across her face.
"No," she said plainly, "You shall shut up and follow me."
Charming blinked in surprise, startled by her boldness. She turned on her heel once more and Charming clamped his lips shut. He thought it best that he say nothing for the time being.
The image of the gravestones continued to stay in his mind. He became suddenly very curious, more curious that he thought he could ever be. He walked into step with Rapunzel, staying close to her side as they walked through the thicket of trees and out onto the abandoned road. Rapunzel looked left and right, then straight down the road. She sighed, relaxing her shoulders and removing her hand from the hilt of her sword. Charming did the same, finding comfort in her more relaxed self. Charming glanced down at her sword. It was nice and long with a large hilt, a blade made for a man, not a small woman like herself.
"Who taught you how to wield a sword?" Charming asked as they walked down the road. Rapunzel hesitated to answer, still frightened of what they might run into on the road, but she answered anyways, seeing no harm in it.
"My father taught me a few basic steps, but my mother didn't approve of him teaching me to fight. So, I taught myself."
"And she approves of you teaching yourself?" Charming asked. Rapunzel knew the question hidden beneath those words. She sighed, fighting back images and tears of that painful memory of her parents being murdered before her very eyes.
"My parents are dead," Rapunzel replied, swallowing, "They were murdered in front of me by a Sorcerer."
"Is that who you are afraid of?" Charming said, "You are afraid that he may kill you also?"
"You do not understand," Rapunzel answered, laughing lightly. She stopped walking, grabbing onto Charming's sleeve to turn him towards her, "He was after me. My parents gave themselves up so that he would not find me."
"Why did he want you?" Charming wondered.
Rapunzel shrugged her shoulders and turned down a path that they had missed that led them into the woods. She stepped over a fallen branch, her dress ripping slightly at the end, "I have no clue what he wanted with me, what he still wants with me."
"Still?"
Rapunzel nodded, "He doesn't break deals, even if the person that made the deal is dead."
Charming pulled up in his tracks. He doesn't break deals. He had heard those words before; he had met someone like that before. Suddenly, an image of a man with grease hair, scaly skin, and crooked yellow teeth popped into his head, "Rumpelstiltskin."
Rapunzel stopped walking, turning on her heel to face him. Her face was a mask of fury as she thought of that beast, "Yes," she gritted through her teeth, "That was his name."
There was a quiet pop near them. It made Rapunzel jump slightly, grabbing onto Charming's sleeve.
"What was that?" she asked.
Charming swallowed hard. He had said his name. Did he answer? Did he answer even though he wasn't being called? Rapunzel and Charming shared a hard look, both thinking the same thing.
"Hide here," Charming said, pushing Rapunzel into a small bush.
"What? No, I can't let you-"
"I will take care of him, Rapunzel," Charming said, firmly, holding onto her shoulders, "I promise and I do not break my promises."
Rapunzel froze, sucking in a breath. That was what her father always said. He never ever broke his promises even if it led him to his death.
After a pause, Rapunzel nodded her head slowly, agreeing to Charming's plan. He nodded once to her before running off down a small hill, hopping over rocks in the creek and making his way up a path into a clearing. I was the same clearing he had entered in only a few hours before. He looked around, confused. It seemed to be empty, not a soul in it.
"Lost are we?" a man's voice said from behind him. Charming whipped his head around, startled. He found a man in leather clothing with raggedy brown hair, and scaly skin. On his back was a cloche, Charming's fur coat that he gave him in a deal they had made. Charming swallowed, furrowing his brow.
"What are you doing here?" Charming asked, sharply. He kept his eyes locked on Rumpelstiltskin, daring to look over to the path where Rapunzel was hidden.
"I'm just here to help," Rumpelstiltskin grinned. He was seated on a log, one leg crossed over the other.
"Well," Charming said, "No need. I'll be fine," Charming started to turn away, thinking of making a turn around the other side of the clearing, getting Rapunzel, and running away as fast as they could. He couldn't let Rumpelstiltskin know of Rapunzel, know that she was in the forest with him.
"No, I don't think so," Rumpelstiltskin said, jumping down from the log. Charming stopped walking, looking over his shoulder at the Dark One, "This is the infinite forest. There's no way out," Rumpelstiltskin said, gesturing around them, "Well, besides... my way."
"I want nothing from you," Charming snapped, wanting to get out of this conversation as soon as possible.
"Not even this?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, chuckling at the end of his sentence. He held something in the palm of his hand, a ring, Charming's mother's small green ring.
"My-my mother's ring... it was just-just..." Charming sputtered, bewildered. He reached down to his purse, unclipping it to look inside. Empty. Charming let out a frustrated breath, "How did you get it?" He barked.
"Well, the same way I get everything, of course... magic! The same magic that allows me to do this," Rumpelstiltskin flipped Charming's ring up in the air. It dropped back down into the palm of his hand and began to glow, "This ring is now enchanted. The closer you get to Snow White, the brighter the ring shines. Innterestted?"
Charming stared down at the ring, hesitantly. It was the only way he could find Snow. He took a step closer, staring into Rumpel's cat like eyes, "Give it to me," Charming ordered, but even he knew that Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't offer the now enchanted ring to him freely.
"Oh, no, no, no," Rumpelstiltskin said, shaking his head, "It isn't something for nothing, dearie. Time to make another deal."
"No," Charming growled, "No more deals!" Charming drew his sword and brought it down on Rumpelstiltskin. He quickly vanished into thick purple smoke, dodging Charming's blow.
"Over here," Rumpelstiltskin chuckled, appearing behind him holding a sword in his hand. Charming looked from where Rumpelstiltskin had stood before. He expected him to use magic in this fight. Rumpelstilskin giggled as Charming brought his sword down upon Rumpel once more, their blades meeting,
"Persistant," Rumpelstiltskin smirked, "Had enough yet, Prince Charming?"
Charming growled, pushing Rumpelstiltskin off of him, "Never!"
Rapunzel heard the sounds of shouting and the clanging of swords in the distance. The noises echoed around the forest, sending birds flying into the air, and squirrels scurrying through the leaves. Rapunzel knew who it was Charming was fighting off. It was him... the Dark One. Charming ordered her to stay in the bushes where she would be safe, but Charming wasn't the boss of her.
Rapunzel crawled out of the bush, rising to her feet slowly. She was a hunter and knew how to move quietly through the woods, thanks to some lessons from Stealthy. She tiptoed through the fallen leaves on the ground, following the path that Charming took. She looked down at the footprints that he left, following them on the edge of a creek and up a small hill towards a clearing in the forest. She saw figures in the clearing, slashing swords towards each other. She recognized one as Charming and the other one who had his back to her was defiantly the man she was looking for... Rumpelstiltskin.
Rumpelstiltskin and Charming swapped places and Rapunzel quickly slipped out of view, hiding behind a tree and hoping that Rumpelstiltskin was too focused on Charming to notice her. This was her chance, her chance to fulfill her promise and kill him. Rapunzel slid her hand down to her sword, gripping the hilt. She poked her head out from the tree, watching as Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand, sending Charming right into a tree. Rapunzel gasped slightly as he sunk to the ground, rolling onto his back. Rumpelstiltskin walked towards Charming, his back once again towards Rapunzel. She took that moment to move to the next tree, hiding behind that. She peeked out once more, looking to see what was happening.
"Looking for this?" Rumpelstiltskin said, waving a glowing ring in front of Charming's face. He hovered over Charming who lay on his back on the forest floor, "So brave... so bold... so pointless. Bravery won't get you out of this forest, dearie. Magic will."
Rapunzel moved back behind the tree, looking down at her hands. She remembered her tears healing her wounds the day her parents died. She hadn't done anything like it since then, she was afraid to, but it was something special. It looked, felt, like magic. Rapunzel swallowed hard, remembering her mother's words once again;
You are strong. You are special.She was magical.
"Trust me," Rumpelstiltskin said. Rapunzel peeked out from the tree again, moving swiftly towards one that was closer. As she did, Charming noticed her. He saw as her blonde braid flew behind her as she ran to the next tree. She poked her head out and their eyes met. He quickly fixed his gaze upon Rumpelstiltskin, not wanting to blow Rapunzel's cover. Rumpelstiltskin moved in closer to Charming, continuing to speak, "This is a deal you want to make."
"Oh yeah?" Charming sneered, raising a brow, "And why is that."
"Because we both want the same thing," Rumpelstiltskin replied, smiling widely, flashing his yellow teeth.
"What is that?" Charming asked, becoming more curious.
Rumpelstiltskin leaned in closer, inches away from Charming's face. He could feel Rumpelstiltskins hot breath on his face as he answered, "For you and Snow White, your true love, to be together, of course."
Rumpelstiltskin rose from the ground, sheathing his sword. Charming got up off the ground slowly, using the tree behind him for support. His eyes flickered for only a moment to where Rapunzel was still hidden.
"Behold," Rumpelstiltskin announced. A purple potion suddenly appeared in his hand, "the most powerful magic of all... true love," Charming reached out to the potion, but Rumpelstiltskin brought it out of his reach, hugging it closely to him, "Aha! Careful, dearie. This is all I have left of it," he spoke his last words with sorrow in his voice. Charming caught it and began to play off of that to give Rapunzel time to scramble behind the next tree.
"What do you know of true love?" Charming spat, looking Rumpelstiltskin up and down.
"Well, perhaps not as much as you, but much more than you probably would know."
Charming eyed Rumpelstiltskin, trying his best to look into his eyes, but he kept turning away. Rapunzel listened carefully. He had a weakness, someone was his weakness. Who would love a monster like him?
"You?" Charming smirked, raising a brow in disbelief, "You love someone?"
"It was a brief flicker of light in an ocean of darkness," Rumpelstiltskin replied.
"What happened?" Charming questioned.
"She died," Rumpelstiltskin answered, his voice hard, "That's the thing about true love, dearie," Rumpelstiltskins eyes looked over Charming's shoulder, landing on the tree that Rapunzel was hidden behind, "It can slip right through your very fingers."
Rapunzel swallowed hard. She could feel his eyes on her, that he could sense her presence. It was like he was speaking to her. All Rapunzel could think of was of her parents. They loved her dearly; they loved her so much that they were willing to lay down their life for her. Rapuznel wanted to get out on the world and find true love so badly that she didn't realize that she had had it all along. The love her parents had for her was true, strong, and powerful. The most powerful magic of all.
"It's the most powerful magic in all the worlds," Rumpelstiltskin continued, speaking to Charming now, "The only magic that is powerful enough to break through any curse. It must be protected at all costs."
"I-I don't think I understand," Charming sputtered, his face twisted into a confused expression, "What exactly are you asking me to do?"
"I want you to help me protect it by putting it somewhere safe," Rumpelstiltskin replied.
"And where's that?" Charming sighed, getting tired of his hidden meanings and riddles.
Rumpelstiltskin formed a golden egg in his hand, placing the potion inside of it, and locking the egg, "Why," Rumpelstiltskin started, a smug look on his face, "inside the belly of a beast of course," he said, tossing the egg to Charming who caught it effortlessly.
"Why hide it?" Charming said slowly.
"Let's just say," Rumpelstiltskin started, taking a step towards Charming, speaking lowly, "I'm saving it for a rainy day."
Charming nodded his head slowly, not understanding a word of that sentence. He looked around the clearing, as if wondering what to do next, but he was really checking on Rapunzel, seeing if she was still behind her tree. She was. She had drawn her blade, holding it out in front of her. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily.
"There is something else," Rumpelstiltskin said. Charming turned back around slowly, facing Rumpelstiltskin.
"And what might that be, Dark One?" Charming sneered.
"You bring someone with you," Rumpelstiltskin said, "Someone you met in this very forest. Someone that belongs to me."
"I have no idea-"
"I belong to no one," Rapunzel stepped out of her tree, cutting of Charming's lie. He looked over his shoulder at her worriedly as she approached Rumpelstiltskin, her sword pointed out in front of her, and a blood thirsty look in her green eyes, "You're Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One. The one who murdered my parents."
"You have a good memory, dearie, for someone being so young when it happened," Rumpelstiltskin smirked, scanning Rapunzel's pretty face and body, "My, my, you have grown up."
"I was eleven," Rapunzel snapped, "That is a day I shall never forget."
"Nor shall I," Rumpelstiltskin said, "I never forget the deals I make. The ones in this world and the next."
"What deal did my parents make with you?" Rapunzel demanded.
"So they did not tell you," Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. Charming glanced from Rapunzel to Rumpelstiltskin nervously. He hugged the golden egg close to him.
"No, they did not. You killed them before they could get the chance," Rapunzel gritted through her teeth, "Tell me."
"Pushy, pushy, pushy. So, so, pushy. Your father had it as well," Rumpelstiltksin started, pacing back and forth, "You see..."
"Rapunzel," she said, introducing herself. She rolled her tongue as he did as he spoke.
"Ah, a very fitting name," Rumpelstiltskin noted under his breath, "Your father broke into my mansion, trying to steal a single healing flower from me. This flower was very rare in the sense that it possessed... magical qualities. Your mother was dying as she gave birth to you so your father made a deal with me. A magic flower for his only child."
Rapuznel sucked in a shaky breath. Her father tried to give her way? She lowered her sword, staring down at the leaves beneath her feet. Everything became blurry as tears filled her eyes.
"Part of the deal was that he had eleven years to get to know you. On your eleventh birthday I was to bring back what was rightfully mine, my end of the deal. You. But your father tried to break that deal and no one breaks deals with me... no one," he sneered, emphasising on that last part, "If you break deals with me... well... you'll end up the way your parents did. Dead!"
"Why me?" Rapunzel asked, furiously.
"Tell me, dear Rapunzel," Rumpelstiltskin said, taking a step closer to Rapuznel. She raised her sword, stopping him in his tracks, "Have you ever done anything... unique. Have you made something happen, something that you never meant to?"
Rapunzel thought hard and the only image that popped into her head was her tears healing the scrapes on her knees. She nodded her head slowly. A small smile appeared on Rumpelstiltskin's face, an ugly small smile.
"You see, Rapunzel," Rumpelstiltskin started, "the magic of that flower healed your mother, but it did much more to you, dearie. It made you powerful, magical. You now possess the magic of that golden flower... the Rapunzel flower."
Rapunzel sucked in a breath, finally understanding what he was saying. She had magic, magic inside of her. She could do the things that he could do; she had the same powers as Rumpelstilskin.
"You have magic," Rapunzel said, "Why do you need me?"
"Because your magic is special, rare," Rumpelstiltskin answered. Rapuznel expected him to say more, explain more, but he stopped there, staring at her with envy in his dark eyes, "Now," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "Come, Rapunzel, we all have places to be."
"I'm not going with you," Rapunzel snapped, laughing lightly.
"Oh, but you must," Rumpelstiltskin said, "No one breaks deals-"
"It seems that you have been the one to break that deal, Rumpelstiltskin," Charming said, edging closer to Rapunzel, "You killed the one who made the deal."
"That doesn't change the fact that I want her back," Rumpelstiltskin sneered, "And she will come without a fuss."
In that second, Rapunzel lifted her sword high, quickly driving it through Rumpelstiltskin's chest. He gasped as she leaned in, glaring at him, her hand still tight on the sword.
"That's for my parents," she sneered. Rapunzel let go of the sword and he staggered backwards. He looked down, a worried expression upon his face, but when he looked up he was grinning. Charming and Rapunzel both knitted their brows in confusion.
"It's not that easy, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin chuckled, pulling out the sword from his chest. No blood was stained on it as he drew it out from his insides.
"But- I just- just-" Rapunzel sputtered, not understanding a thing that just happened.
"There is only one way to kill me and it is not that way. It's not that... simple," Rumpelstiltskin said. He swung Rapunzel's sword towards her neck, but something had pushed her out of the way, blocking Rumpelstiltskin's strike with his own. Rapunzel stumbled to the ground, rolling onto her stomach. She quickly turned to find Charming standing with his back to her. He stood between her and Rumpelstiltskin.
"You said that you would get me out of this forest," Charming reminded him, their swords still pushing against each others, "Rapunzel is with me so wherever I go, she goes also."
"Well," Rumpelstiltskin said, "I don't see why you need me then."
"Where am I supposed to go?" Charming barked, "How do we get out of here?"
Rapunzel rose slowly, her eyes wide as she realized that she had her way out of this forest for years!
"Magic," Rumpelstiltskin sneered.
Charming glanced over his shoulder at Rapunzel. They stared at each other for a long moment, reading each other's thoughts. Rapunzel nodded slowly and just as she did, Charming swung his blade around, knocking Rapunzel's sword out of his hands. Rapunzel scrambled across the ground to her sword, grabbing it and pointing it at Rumpelstiltskin with Charming doing the same by her side.
"Tell us where this beast lives," Charming demanded.
"I cannot tell you where, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin answered, "But I can tell you who."
"Not this again," Charming groaned, annoyed by how he never gave a straight forward answer.
"Tell us who," Rapunzel ordered. Rumpelstiltskin looked her up and down for a moment, scanning her face.
"Why don't we make a deal, dearie," Rumpelstiltskin said, "I give you the name and then you come with me."
"No-" Charming started.
"Done," Rapunzel snapped. Charming gritted his teeth, looking to Rapunzel.
"Do you really want to be his prisoner?" he asked. Rapunzel turned back to Rumpelstiltskin, ignoring Charming's question. Her answer was no. She did not want to be his captive, but she promised Charming. She promised that she would help him in his search for Snow.
"The name, please," Rapunzel said.
Rumpelstiltskin leaned in closer, an ugly smirk on his face. Purple smoke began to form around him, making him disappear, "Maleficent."
"How do we get there?" Rapunzel asked. Rumpelstiltskin didn't respond, he just smiled, the purple smoke swirling around him, "Tell us!" her voice boomed.
"I already told you, dearie," he sneered, the smoke covering his face completely, "Magic."