Chapter 37: One Last Chance

That night, Telemain told Morwen everything the author told him. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"I don't think I've ever heard you say those words. That must've hurt."

"Yes, immensely so. I wish my master were here. He would know what to do. Actually, I guess he'd take back his quill." He sighed. "Did you think I did the right thing, not breaking it?"

"If it meant putting the life of our son at stake, absolutely."

"Well, with Ursula and Cruella gone, and Maleficent seeming to have lost interest, the one I will need to convince is the Dark One. And Isaac's right, time is short, and he's not going to be easy to convince."

"What about Regina and Henry?"

"They just want him to answer some questions. If they really want him to write a happy ending, they would have been on the darkness team. Though if I'm wrong and they come for him, I will tell them the same thing."

"Well, whatever you do, just make sure you're back by 5:00."

"5:00? You know I usually close the shop at 6:00."

"At 5:00, I'll wake up Bae from his nap, and then bring him downstairs for his birthday party. I'll have the cake all ready, balloons, streamers. I invited a lot of people and got a lot of RSVPs. Cimorene and Mendanbar, Mary Margaret and David, and they're bringing Neal. And I expect you to be here in time for the party."

"Alright, dear, I will." He breathed in deeply as he thought about what he could possibly say to the Dark One.

"One of the first things Cruella told me to do when we came over here was to leave the baby hatching from the egg in the middle of nowhere. But as I was taking her to the woods, I looked at her and thought about Jim Dear and Darling's baby," Lady explained.

"Jim Dear and Darling? Your owners?" the Tramp responded.

She nodded. "I haven't thought about them in years. So I sang her the songs they sang to their baby, and some other songs that were special to me. I took her to the orphanage, but I couldn't leave her alone. So every year, I sought out her scent and came to see her again. She kept getting so big, but she was always so happy to see me."

"She's a woman now."

"Yep, and she doesn't need me anymore."

"Neither does Cruella."

"I know. She fell apart financially, and she fired me, but I still felt that she needed me."

"Trust me, she doesn't. She's dead. She fell off a cliff."

"Oh, that's awful!"

"Yeah, it is, but I imagine she wasn't the best boss. I mean 'cruel' is part of her name. The only one who needs you anymore is me."

"You need to know that I don't really have a place to go back to."

"Well, neither do I, but the whole world is open to us. Remember what I told you? Now you have nothing to hold you back. No owners, no babies."

"It's not that easy in this world."

"Not for humans, I guess. Well, we could go back to Storybrooke, where I'm from. Magic's there, and we could be dogs again one day."

Regina found them. "Hey, we're about to go back, and I'm afraid we're going to have a full car. You two could be in the trunk."

The Tramp thought about arguing about what she said about the spell, but he said, "You know what? We don't need to go back right away. One spaghetti dinner isn't gonna be enough for us to catch up. We need to spend some more time together."

"What about getting back in?"

"Oh right, the shield. Is there any way I could contact Telemain whenever I return? He'll get us back in."

"Yeah, I have his cell phone." She reached into her pocket to get it, but while she was at it, she pulled out her purse and got out a couple of hundred dollar bills. "This is to help you get through the first couple of weeks."

"Hey, that's pretty cool! Thanks!"

"Yeah, don't go blabbing about it." She walked off.

The next afternoon, Isaac and the Dark One, who looked terribly pale and weak, came to the store. Before Telemain could great them, the Dark One ordered Isaac, "Get anything about blood magic, but be quick. I have something in the back that will help."

"Dark One?" Telemain said.

"Leave me be, Telemain!" he said as he went to the back. Yet soon after the Dark One went back there, Telemain heard a crash. He started to run back there, but then the door opened.

Telemain turned back around. "Regina! How may I help you?"

"I do love the service here since the change of management. I want him."

"Regina—"

Then the Dark One came out. "What do you want?"

"As I was just saying, I want the author. Finding him was my idea before you stole it!" He only cringed and gasped. Then she said with genuine concern, "What's wrong with you? You look terrible."

"Nothing, I'm fine."

Then, she smiled. "It's your heart, isn't it? It's finally happening."

"Yes, it's dying, bad news for you and me both."

"You said it would kill your ability to love. You didn't say that . . . the Dark One can't die, not like that."

"No, but Rumpelstiltskin can. A friendly warning—you don't want to face the Dark One when there's no one else at home, so I suggest you don't antagonize me."

But she didn't turn out to be that concerned about his fate. She just wanted to steal the author so he would write her a happy ending. Telemain ran to her side. "Regina, I'll tell you what I told him—this is a mistake."

"You actually are going to want me to walk out with the author, Telemain," she answered. "My happy ending affects you, too."

"I already have all I desire, so how could it affect me?"

She whispered in his ear, "Because it involves revenge on Zelena."

"Zelena? But she's dead!"

She disappeared before she could explain, and the Dark One fell unconscious on the floor. Telemain came forward and tried to pick him up. He quickly saw that would be a bad idea. So he used his powers to make the Dark One levitate, and he directed him to the back where his bed is. He took off the Dark One's shoes and put a blanket over him. He got him some water and sat by his side.

Slowly, the Dark One opened his eyes. "Telemain? You shouldn't be here."

"If anyone can withstand you when and if the Dark One takes over, it's me. I just want to make sure you're comfortable."

"I'm good, thank you."

"Good." He smiled. "You know, it could be worse."

"That's not something you'd want to say to a dying man."

"No, it really could be. Remember when I told you the Artisan Guild was full the day I applied to the Mage Guild? I later learned that the prodigy they took in as an apprentice was an actor/playwright named William. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The Dark One nodded. "William Shakespeare."

"Think if things ended up differently. Think if I or Isaac made it to the fair ten minutes earlier and took on that position, and he somehow ended up your author." He grinned. "Everybody would die. Those who do good, those who do bad, everybody. In fact, the so-called 'heroes' would get the gorier, more drawn-out deaths."

"Well, that depends on whether or not he would see our story as a comedy or a tragedy. If it's a comedy, everybody would get married."

"Are you kidding? There's too much complexity. Besides, his better stories have been tragedies. Then again, the 'villains' might be the protagonists, such as in 'Macbeth' or 'Titus Andronicus.'"

"You know, a lot of those are true stories."

"Well, the histories, certainly."

"Not just the histories. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is mostly true. I was involved in a lot of it."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"It would have its advantages. We'd be a lot more developed characters. We'd all sound as intelligent as you."

"Except you would be rhyming 90% of the time."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed, a real laugh. "That's true." Then he sat up and said loudly, "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" and giggled, but then he took a deep gasp and fell back into the bed. "I don't know where that came from. Regina better hurry up."

"Dark One, you can't do this. You can't use the author."

"And you can't tell me what to do!"

"Yesterday, when we spoke, he told me that he's going to give you what you desire, but he's not going to give you a happy ending, because he already has an ending planned. This is just going to be more like a . . . climax."

"I'll take what I can get."

"You can probably see how it ends. Use your clairvoyance."

The Dark One closed his eyes, and he saw a young man advancing on him screaming over and over again, "You lied! You lied!" The Dark One tried to shoot magic spells at him, but the young man was surrounded by some sort of anti-magic shield. He grabbed the Dark One, picked him off the ground, and threw him across the room.

"What do you see?"

"I'm gonna get through this. He's going to make me survive."

"And?"

"I'll deal with whatever else happens later."

"You know there's another way. You can make the choice to change your heart."

"No, I can't."

"Yes, you can! All you have to do is—"

"—break my oath? Use my magic for benevolence? Do something, anything with my powers without expecting anything in return?"

"I suppose we can start with that."

He shook his head. "You don't understand blood magic. I can't break that oath"

"I know how strict it is regarding vows, and I can understand your apprehension because once you do it you won't be the Dark One anymore, but—"

"No, you don't understand! I am unable to break that oath! I cannot say the words! I cannot do the action! That's how binding it is!"

"So, you're saying . . . you've forgotten how to be benevolent?"

"Let's be serious, Telemain—no one knows how to be benevolent. I don't believe it's possible for anyone to do anything unselfishly, even you. You use benevolence expecting that residual effect, or because you want to go to the Summer Country or Heaven or whatever. It really is selfish when you think about it."

"I really don't think so."

"Be honest with me. If you had no reward, you wouldn't do it, would you?"

Telemain looked away. "That is a hard question."

He sat with the Dark One in silence for most of the afternoon after that. Rumpelstiltskin eventually went to sleep, and Telemain prayed and contemplated. When the Dark One woke and groaned in pain again, he asked, "Is he back yet?"

"No. What did Regina mean about Zelena? She died; we saw her on that video."

"It was an illusion. She disappeared, used her power to activate the portal, then disguised herself as Marian so she could come back. I can't have my revenge on her because she helped get me back to Storybrooke, but you can."

"No. As far as I'm concerned, I have defeated her. I destroyed the necklace containing her power. But I should be careful what I tell Morwen. She was furious with Zelena for taking me away from her, and she has a right to be angry." He looked at his watch. "Speaking of Morwen, I need to go. Our son's birthday party is this evening. It is a pity you can't come."

"Oh, your son. Here." He pulled out of his jacket a small, long package wrapped in gold foil. "He may not be old enough to use this yet, but it will still be his."

"What is it?"

"A back-up plan, and a fulfillment to another oath I'm bound to."

Telemain looked at the gift and thought about Zelena and all they discussed. He finally said, "I still say working with the author is a mistake, but I suppose it is your mistake to make. I just hope you will do the right thing. Farewell, Dark One."

A couple of hours earlier, Morwen put her son down for a nap. "There's gonna be a big surprise when you wake up," she promised him. Then she started decorating the kitchen with balloons and streamers. She put a chocolate cake on the table and a pile of presents. Telemain came home just before 5:00, and they heard that Bae was awake. Morwen went to get him. Telemain put the Dark One's gift on top of the stack of presents.

And then, the author put down his quill. And the ground shook, and nearly everyone vanished.