Ominous as the sky was, she and Rapunzel when back to the library with Mother's promise that she and the other fairies would help her break the curse if she could find a way. Of course, she thought to ask her if they had any idea how to break it without the research, but she regretfully told them that she didn't, but their resources were available if she needed them. She didn't. Or at least she didn't need them yet. As far as she was concerned the resources at the convent were heavy material and only to be used when all other options ran dry. For now, all she needed were the books back in the library.
"Looks like a storm is on the way," Rapunzel commented as they made their way into the library.
"Naturally, let's just hope it doesn't interfere with what we need to do. Magic and weather don't always go well together."
"Well? You're the expert, how do we do this?" Rapunzel asked as she began to pull various books out of the back room and set them on the tables.
"I'm not the only one that knows how to do this, you and Flynn did it once, right? Isn't it how you met?" she questioned sorting the books and finally sitting down to read.
"Not really. Flynn already knew the book he needed; I was just along for the ride. There was no real research involved."
"Well, if things go well there won't be much research involved in this either."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed as she thought back to weeks ago, the time that they'd all arrived in Granny's diner after just barely managing to escape King Arthur's court. Merlin had used a spell to transfer them to a different place and time…it was only then that he pulled Mary Margaret and David from his pocket and explained what had happened. "When we were in Camelot David and Mary Margaret were affected by the same spell the rest of Camelot is under now," she explained to a shocked looking Rapunzel across the table. "We were confused and never would have figured out what it was exactly if not for Merlin. He's the one who broke the spell."
Quickly she found the book that she needed most and began to turn the pages quickly. Research was a lot more fun when she knew exactly what she was looking for.
"Wow!" Rapunzel breathed, oblivious. "You never told me they were infected!"
"It was irrelevant until this moment, to be honest I completely forgot about it until today." There! Her heart skipped a beat as she located the passage, right where she expected it would be. With a beaming smile, she rose, walked around the table, and set the book before Rapunzel, pointing at the section she needed most.
"The Legendary Sands of Avalon," Rapunzel read.
Belle nodded. "That's what Merlin called the enchantment they were under. He said they came from the Sands of the Isle of Avalon. What does the book say?" she questioned motioning back to the book before her.
Rapunzel sighed and searched over the page before reading out loud: "There are few mysteries over the years that have teased and taunted like the Isle of Avalon. Said to be found only by Sailors in desperate need, the Isle of Avalon is supposedly home to beautiful women and natural sights, it is rumored gods have handcrafted. However, it is not the sights, but rather the goods of the island that has caught the attention of men and women alike for centuries. The legendary Sands of Avalon are perhaps the most well known and most coveted.
"Believed to be a form of rare natural magic, the Sands of Avalon allow that which is broken to appear whole again. At first glance, such magic might seem like it is a blessing. Before the Great Flood, there was very little of the sand available, those who possessed it used it for simple purposes, to fix appearances, to heal small fractures on priceless heirlooms, and restore once lost relationships. However, in the aftermath of the Great Flood, a single pirate ship docked and shared an unlikely tale. Though they'd been caught in the storm and feared death they were found themselves stranded instead on the Isle of Avalon. Once they were able to travel, they filled three large barrels with the coveted sands.
"The sands were split up for profit and found their way into the hands of looters, scoundrels, and thieves. In their hands, the blessing of the sands of Avalon became a curse. These unfailing villains used the sands in disgraceful ways. They used it to appear rich, to enhance the appearance of men and women as they saw fit, to make friends, families, and even entire villages complacent in their wicked plans, and unfairly win the praise of others so they'd be renowned as heroes.
"With no known way to reverse the effects of the sands, only death freed the citizens from the delusions they brought about. The only note of hope in this tale can be found in the magnificent use of so much sand within a generation. The sands of Avalon are not eternal. Though a small pinch of dust can affect a dozen people, once it is gone, it is gone. Of the three barrels the pirates brought back with them, it is estimated that only a fourth of one barrel may be left in the world today for trade. No one has spoken of a trip to the elusive Avalon since."
There was a piercing silence as the two women took in the finality and disappointment that came with those words. It wasn't good news despite the fact that she'd hoped for it.
"How old is this book?" Rapunzel asked softly.
She looked the book over, wanting desperately to grasp onto the small hope Rapunzel had found, but the near white pages, crisp black ink, and gently worn cover denied her that hope. "Recent," she answered sadly before going back over to her seat and sitting down in a huff. Just once she would have liked for this to have been easy! To not have to research, to just turn a page, find an incantation, or an easy potion, and that would be it! Apparently, this wasn't that time. "…No known way to reverse the effects of the sands…"
This wasn't going to be easy.
"So what do we do now?" Rapunzel questioned after a few moments. "Do we search for another text or…"
"No," she shook her head. "Now we follow leads and do the impossible. Now we figure out how to undo what cannot be undone."
"How?"
"We follow leads and come up with our own ways. We find the loophole." She thought back to the passage Rapunzel had read and tried to pick apart the text. There was one clue… "That said that the sands were something called 'natural magic'?"
"Um…yeah. 'Believed to be a form of rare natural magic.' Does that mean something?"
"It might," she answered, getting up and returning to the bookshelves. She'd heard of natural magic but never paid attention to it because nearly all the magic that she dealt with was channeled by a caster. Obviously, the sands had a caster, Arthur, but this wasn't something he'd arranged or created it was something brought to him and innately magical. She pulled a couple of books from the shelves and handed one to Rapunzel.
"They're thin."
"They're about natural magic, obviously it's not as well-known as practice of magic."
"Is that good or bad?"
She sat down with her own book and sighed. There was no good answer to that. "It means if we're going to break this then every little detail could be important. You read your book, I'll read mine, let me know if you find anything."
She wouldn't say it out loud, but she suspected she wouldn't find much. Though she'd told Rapunzel to focus on the details, she knew it would be difficult because she didn't have the innate knowledge of magic that she had. She knew what she was looking for, things that commonly reversed spells, but there was very little to find even in her own book. Short as it was it only took a couple of hours to get through it. What had she learned? Natural magic was difficult to undo. It was unbiased, could be deadly and helpful, and it was exceedingly difficult to reverse simply because there was no rhyme or reason behind natural magic, it simply was. True natural magic had no explanation. There were many theories as to why or how the magic was infused into certain objects within nature, but natural magic didn't have curses or enchantments placed on them, it was literally a fluke of…well…nature! It couldn't be undone by blood. It couldn't be undone by emotion because there was no emotion attached to it. In the Enchanted Forest, the rule was that a spell of passion could only be countered by it's contrary, but natural magic had no contrary. It had no passion.
But it did have one weakness: natural magic.
Natural magic couldn't undo itself but it could be used to cancel itself out.
"So…we need something that would make something appear broken in order to stop something that makes something appear whole," Rapunzel worked out hours later as she paced back and forth trying to get her mind to work.
"Essentially. And it has to be natural magic. Something natural that makes something appear broken."
Rapunzel shook her head. "That seems too specific to exist." And there was the problem. "There must be another way," she reasoned. "Mary Margaret and David were under the curse but they aren't anymore. How did Merlin reverse it?"
"He knew a spell that worked," she recalled sadly. If only it was that easy.
"So a spell could work?"
"If we knew which one to use, but Merlin was old, and the fairies didn't even know what to do."
"And now Merlin is dead."
"And now Merlin is dead," she repeated. Which was a shame because the answer seemed clear if not for that. "It's possible I could have the fairies make a cure, like they did for the spell of shattered sight, but I don't have any of the original curse and I don't know if they are strong enough. If I had some of Merlin's magic that might be enough to influence the magic and reverse it-"
"But we don't have any of that either."
"No, I don't even know what happened to his body. As far as I know, all that is left of Merlin is…"
Her eyes widened as she remembered Merlin, the last moments that she'd had with him. "Infused magic," she breathed, remembering something she'd just read. Suddenly pieces were beginning to fall into place. Something Merlin himself had seen was falling into place!
"Infused magic?"
"Infused magic!" she exclaimed diving back toward the book she'd just completed. "It's one of the theories for how natural magic comes about…here! Right here! 'A third theory for natural magic is that that an object is unconsciously infused with magic. From that moment on it is primed and ready to absorb the abilities of any spell that comes into contact with it."
"That sounds like a lot of variables."
She nodded, it did sound like a lot of variables, but it also sounded like it was plausible when the man pulling the strings could see into the future. "We need to go to Granny's!" she exclaimed.
::Jumps up and down:: No matter how I feel about Once Upon a Time or Rumbelle I cannot deny that right now it is chapters like this that keep me going. I LOVE writing Research!Belle! And I love this chapter even more because I have had this chapter as well as the next one set up since Moments Taken! Does anyone remember a certain point in Moments Taken when I said "remember that, it's important later"? Well, later is now!
Thank you, Fox24, Grace5231973, and Rumbellefan, for your unending loyalty and the reviews you have left me! I really do appreciate your kindness and encouragement and I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to hearing from you on this chapter and the next! I'm looking forward to every word! Peace and Happy Reading!