If Any Would Avenge

Chapter 28: Reflections


"No…." Belle muttered, backing away from the sealed wall, her expression horrified. Tears of anger and regret filled her eyes as her cerulean gaze shifted from the wall to her hands. "Come on." She muttered, struggling to summon back the magic that had allowed her to trap Fortunato. "Why…argh." The chestnut haired beauty grumbled, scowling at her hands, her attention so focused on reigniting the magic Nemesis' mark had given her that she didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"...Belle?" Regina called out, thrown off at seeing the librarian standing in the cavern. Following close behind her was Maleficent, the two of them having decided to search for Kidd's accomplice. A difficult task that had become easier once the women realized the pendant Kidd had was enchanted to track the magic used by his fellow assassins. "What are you doing down here?"

"I…." Belle faltered, feeling drained now that her anger and desire for vengeance was sated. Replaced instead by anxiety over whether Fortunato's claim was true or just a lie. Had he really cursed her to be infertile?

"Belle? What…."

"Here." Maleficent interrupted, having continued forward following where Kidd's pendant led, all the way towards the wall Fortunato was sealed behind. She clicked her tongue, her brow furrowing at sight of the wall. "He's...here."

"In the wall? How did he get there?" Regina grimaced, turning her attention away from Belle and towards the cavern wall. Maleficent shrugged. "Whoever or whatever sealed him behind here used powerful magic to do so."

"Do you think Rumplestiltskin…?" The dragon sorceress said, mulling over the traces of magic she sensed from the stone wall. Neither she nor Regina noticed Belle backing away, at least not until Kidd's pendant started pulling away from the wall. Its ruby eyes glowed fiercely and it pulled against Maleficent's grip, towards the chestnut haired bookworm.

"What…."

"...Ah." Belle gasped, the markings on her palms and neck reappearing, reacting to the pendant. Each line of the mark on her skin grew warmer, until it felt painful, like a brand being scorched into her flesh.

"Belle?!" Regina hurried towards the librarian, her words of concern dying in her throat seeing the scarab-skull mark on the younger woman. A revelation that Kidd made about the mark shortly before he turned to dust pushed itself to the forefront of her thoughts.

-"Once marked, any completed act of vengeance a potential recruit makes, seals their soul to Nemesis and its realm." Kidd growled, a smirk on his face and his eyes shining with amusement at Regina's question regarding the mark on Killian. "That's why I marked Hook, on the off chance he wasn't blamed and killed by the Dark One for the brat's death, he would have to spend the rest of his life avoiding all possible revenge or be enslaved by Nemesis."-

"Regina, that mark…." Maleficent gasped at sight of the scarab marking on Belle's hands and neck, thinking the same thing as the former Evil Queen. The one who sealed Fortunato behind the wall hadn't been the Dark One, but rather the young woman wincing in pain before them.

Regina simply hurried to Belle's side, hoping to be able to halt the mark's insidious magic. Though even before checking the chestnut haired woman's hands and neck, she sensed the markings on Belle were far more potent than the one on Killian. Kneeling next to the bookworm, Regina held her hands over the mark on the younger woman's neck and focused all her magic on sealing the mark. Unlike with Killian, the mark on Belle resisted her, its magic fighting back against being contained.

"Ah!" Regina pulled her hand away, hissing in pain, the scarab-skull mark zapping her with a bolt of piercing magic. Her eyes widened, the irises gleaming with frustration and stubbornness. Nemesis magic was powerful, but so was she and she was loathed to lose to some cowardly assassin's magic.

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Centuries Ago: Enchanted Forest

"A deal?" Isobelle muttered, scrutinizing the bizarre being, leery of trusting him. Considering what happened the last time she trusted a strange man - her gaze darkened and her chin scrunched up as she thought about her uncle and the man sealed in his crypt.

"Yes. One that will benefit both of us nicely." Rumplestiltskin crooned, handing the chest back though he continued to gaze at it greedily. "You use that enchanted chest of yours to summon what I require and I'll provide your kingdom with a chest filled with gold for each and every citizen."

"...you'd do that? Provide gold for every one of my people?" Isobelle took in a deep breath when Rumplestiltskin nodded, her heart racing thinking about how much that would help. And though she was tempted to simply agree to the deal, her brain screamed at her to be wary. Nothing could be that easy - the gilded chest she held was evidence of that. It too provided her with gold, silver, and jewels that made her small kingdom the envy of the realm, but at a cost. One she only realized after it summoned to her a unique blue diamond brooch called the Blue Rose, which she knew was owned by a noble in a neighboring kingdom. It was the only one in existence. Upon seeing the brooch in the chest, Isobelle had realized the truth - contrary to her assumptions, the chest only summoned things, it didn't create them. And all the wealth it bestowed on her and her kingdom was in essence stolen wealth.

Catching both the hesitance and the way the woman stared at the enchanted chest, Rumplestiltskin tittered and slithered up next to Isobelle. "Don't you fret, dearie. Unlike your magic chest, I can create gold from something as petty as straw." Magicking a strand of straw to himself to emphasize his point, he eyed Isobelle and grinned seeing the knight's face light up. The expression evidence that she was close to accepting his deal. "So, do we have a deal?"

x

Standing beside Sadie's crib, having just finished lulling her back to sleep by conjuring up a bottle of milk for her and feeding her, Gold gazed down at the five-day-old. His brown eyes staring down at her softened watching her sleep, nearly making him forget why he was still there. He needed to take her. To kidnap her and hand her over to Nemesis.

Despite knowing what his Unwritten son planned to do with the unfortunate baby, he…had to take her. Not only to get his dagger back, but also to help his son. Nemesis was cold and ruthless, but he was still his son and his only remaining child. The only one he could actually bring back. After everything he endured in his life and in the past week alone, he couldn't lose another child.

Not even if the cost was the newborn slumbering away less than a foot from him.

'What will you do?' His Dark One consciousness questioned, sitting on the windowsill about four feet from him and the crib. 'You must understand Nemesis' plan and what he must do to renew his story. Sadie's magic is...powerful. But...ephemeral. Its effects only last as long as she can consciously will it.' The imp glanced briefly towards the crib and the slumbering newborn. 'Her being not even a week old - that won't be long.'

Gold ignored his Dark One subconscious, and instead gazed down at Sadie, his thoughts and emotions storming beneath his stoic expression. His darkened heart hissed at him to take the selfish choice, to help his son regain his story and existence. It didn't matter what happened to the pirate's daughter - if her parents had done what they promised they'd do and protected Gideon, he'd still have a living son. Nor would he be facing this choice: to sacrifice a newborn or doom his Unwritten son. He should do what any parent would do and choose his own child.

'But…' his conscience whispered back, arguing against the darkened mass of his heart. 'You know the devastation of outliving a child...are you willing to cause Sadie's parents that kind of pain? Her mother is the mother of your grandson!'

'Her mother should've took better care of what was mine then!' Gold mentally hissed back at his conscience, mindful not to make a sound that would alert Emma or the Charmings to his presence. The former was already sleeping, but at least one of the Charmings was awake downstairs judging by the footsteps and such. Unless the pirate had returned home sometime in the past twenty minutes or so he'd spent debating whether to kidnap Sadie. Filled with anger as he thought of Killian, Gold made his decision that moment to take Sadie, his darker instincts relishing seeing the pirate's devastated look at the loss of his daughter.

The moment he grabbed Sadie though, he felt the same strange feeling from earlier pass over him, robbing him of magic and restoring his leg. His eyes widened and he gaped at the newborn in his arms, who once more was awake.

"...Not fair." He muttered, his heart racing as he stared at Sadie a few more seconds before visually searching the room. Panicking a bit when he heard footsteps ascending the stairs, he considered leaving with Sadie via the window. This was the second floor however and he would be holding a baby. 'How the hell am I going to do this without my magic?!'

Sadie giggled and reached out towards Gold's face, recognizing the man as someone who'd fed her. Nothing in her eyes and smile revealed that she considered him a threat, or that she knew she was in danger. All she knew was he had fed her and soothed her to sleep.

'Why? Why are you using your magic against me if you don't see me as a threat?' Gold muttered and shook his head, before laying Sadie back in the crib as the footsteps drew nearer. His magic returned just in time for him to move towards the corner and cast an invisibility spell to conceal himself as the nursery door opened.

David stepped into the room, turning on the adjustable light at the lowest setting on his way towards the crib. "You're awfully quiet tonight." David said softly, gazing down at his granddaughter who he'd expected to be asleep. "Your mommy said you've been fussy and crying almost non-stop the past few nights, but look at you now. Quiet as a mouse." David mused, leaning down to pick Sadie up, planning on rocking her to sleep. It was then that he noticed the baby bottle set on the shelf beside the crib. "That's...not yours."

'Shit.' Gold tensed, realizing his blunder a bit too late. When he'd rocked and fed Sadie earlier to get her to sleep, he didn't see her bottle, so he'd conjured one. Or rather, summoned one of Gideon's old ones and filled it magically with formula. Seeing the alarm rising in the shepherd-prince's face, Gold took a final survey of his options.

If he simply left, Charming would still know he'd been there, or at least suspect. That would lead to questions of why and why the secrecy. And considering how he attacked Emma five nights ago, Gold felt certain none of them would believe his reason was benign. Especially not Emma's overprotective father.

"Who's here?" David tensed, hovering over Sadie's crib protectively as he glanced around, his senses keen for movement. Not that it would help much in detecting someone using magic. "Show your…."

"Shut up." A voice growled, surprising David and Gold, its owner entering the room from the hallway door. A gun in his hand. "I'd gladly put a bullet in your head. Now hand over your granddaughter."

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"Damn it." Regina hissed, nursing her hand, the palm scorched by the scarab-skull mark fighting against her. It'd taken a while and a huge reserve of her magic, but she managed to stop the mark on Belle progressing. Although whether it was solely her doing or the result of Belle passing out and somehow weakening the mark's active magic, the mayor didn't know 100 percent. She did know that, at the moment, Nemesis' mark on Belle was stifled. It wouldn't be controlling or harming anyone.

"That...was unexpected." Maleficent stated, eyeing the unconscious librarian carefully. "Her being marked, that is. Considering what Fortunato and Kidd did to her children, I expected her to snap and attack the bastards."

"Really? You really expected the bookworm to do that?" Regina stared askance at the dragon sorceress, disbelieving the assertion. She shook her head, still nursing her palm. "Belle's a hero, she wouldn't…."

"Tell that to the man behind the wall." Maleficent replied, gesturing towards the cavern wall behind which was Fortunato. "Besides, I've seen even the most saintly of mothers avenge their children in the most brutal ways. It's not just those like us who'd kill or maim to avenge the loss of their child, Regina."

"Well…." Regina paused, considering the sorceress' statement, the next moment shrugging. "True enough. I just never imagine the bookworm…." She grimaced and glanced back to Belle lying unconscious on the cavern floor. "Anyway, we still need to figure out who or what Nemesis is and figure out how to counteract its mark permanently."

"His." A voice snapped, echoing through the cavern, its timbre and cadence identical to that of the chestnut haired librarian. "His mark. Not its, his."

Regina jolted up at the voice, her eyes wide in suspicion and confusion, but before either she or Maleficent could act, they were thrown across the cavern. The impact strong enough to knock them both out just as a woman wearing a donkey skin cloak approached Belle.

The woman glowered coldly, her eyes narrowed as she glanced around, a fiery hatred filling them when she noticed the wall behind which was Fortunato. It switched to a cool indifference when she shifted her gaze to Belle lying just inches from her. Lowering her hood, she grimaced at the scarab-skull fading from the younger woman's hands. "Not exactly to plan, but…" She paused and knelt down next to Belle, her face fully visible under the cavern's semi-natural, semi-magical, lighting. Though slightly creased with age, her face was a replica of the librarian's and her hair the same chestnut hue, aside from one curl that was graying. "...not exactly against it either."

She muttered, the next moment waving her hand and teleporting away in a cloud of magic, bringing Belle along with her.