Thank you loyal reviewers: orthankg1, Grace5231973, Twyla Mercedes. Comments and reactions like yours always keep me motivated! ;)
Belle arrived in the Dark Castle and as soon as she set foot in her home, she sensed something was wrong. There was a strange energy in the air, a kind of electricity emanating through the walls. The beauty entered the living room and found Rumpelstiltskin standing opposite the window. The tension she sensed was coming from him. Before she could ask what was going on, Rumpelstiltskin spoke still with his back to her, his voice strangely dark.
"We have a problem."
…
"Regina!"
A loud female's voice echoed in the empty stone walls of the Evil Queen's magnificent palace. The unfortunate guards that dared to cross paths with the irate visitor and try to stop her intrusion had the misfortune of being transformed into bugs and being squashed immediately afterwards by the angered woman's steps. Regina stood in her private chamber and watched, from her magical mirror, the short but intimidating woman burst her way into her palace. The dark beauty smiled. She had expected Belle or Rumpelstiltskin to pay her a visit.
Regina had witnessed today the Hunters' attack. She had followed its developments through the reflection of their weapons and shields. Her heart had bounced wildly under her chest. Because nothing turned out the way she had expected.
When Regina first saw Myrddin, she had been confused. She had no idea to whom that child belonged or why Baelfire was taking care of it. But her clever mind quickly did the math and she understood the infant was nobody else but Belle and Rumpelstiltskin's child. Or to put it out differently, he was the son of the Dark One and the Primordial. Myrddin had just become the main target of the Hunters.
The tiny bleak light that still survived in her darkened heart sparkled weakly but enough for her still human side to despair. The Evil Queen was about to teleport herself to save the child when Rumpelstiltskin suddenly appeared. Normally, the Evil Queen would had groaned of frustration, because the infuriating slave was going, once again, to destroy her plans. But today, somehow it didn't really bother her. In truth, today she wanted her evil scheme to fail so the teenager and his little brother would live.
Regina had truly breathed a sigh of relieve when she witnessed the Hunting's horrible failure, but now she had a new problem. Norman, that overly cowardly Hunter, had dared to tell Rumpelstiltskin about her. Regina immediately knew her fate was sealed. The fire demon would certainly come to slay her with burning flames, if not, Belle would certainly ensure she suffered a painful death. The dark beauty needed to find out a way to convince the Dark One and the Primordial that they needed her alive. Her clever mind found the solution to her new problem. This unfortunate turn of events could actually come to her benefit.
The Evil Queen turned around with a confident smirk on her pretty features when Belle burst inside her chamber, panting hot breath, her clear blue eyes almost completely black, looking more like a wild animal than a human.
"There truly are no words to describe your noxious putrid heart, are there?" Belle spat between her pants, her face white like a ghost, her darkened eyes shining of pure rage.
"First of all, I only informed a Hunter about the existence of a Primordial and his son. Secondly, I had no idea you and that low-rated slave had a child together. A pity truly. I would have loved to come to the baby shower." Regina nonchalantly spoke, knowing she was playing a very dangerous game. In reality, she never had seen Belle this irate before.
"You! How dare you?! I am destroying you!" The Dark One yelled and threw Regina through the air. The dark-haired queen hit a wall with great force and fell defensively against some chairs and vases, before hitting the floor. Belle clenched her fingers like claws and lifted the woman in the air, an invisible strong hand crushing her neck.
"I- wouldn't k-kill me – if I – were i-in your – shoes." Regina spoke with great difficulty, her breath blocked by the invisible hand, chocking her in dried saliva. She felt the heat grow on her head, the veins swell in the verge of explosion and then suddenly she was released. The Evil Queen breathed in loudly, fell from high and hit the floor hard. A painful moan escaped her lips and, with trembling arms, she tried to lift herself up. Regina screamed when Belle grasped her by her thick black hair and pull it, so her back arched altogether.
"Is that really true?" Belle inquired next to the queen's ear, her hot breath heated by fury. "Tell me then, why not?"
"Your son… he possesses the great potential in becoming one of the most powerful beings of all times. To the Hunters he is a dangerous thread. To ambitious rulers he is an instrument to achieve immeasurable power. In either way, his future will always be compromised." Regina quickly explained.
"Yes, I know that! That's why I kept his existence secret! Until you fabricated your sick plan and sent those barbarians to kill a teenager!" Belle yelled, while she forced Regina to stand up by her hair, only to kick her back to the ground. Regina screamed from the pain, but refused to show her fear.
"You are a fool if you think you can protect him from the world forever!" Regina spat venomously. "And I told you already, all I did was inform. There is somebody else who knows about Rumpelstiltskin and his sons' existence and wants them dead! Somebody very influent and powerful!"
"Oh, let me guess! Snow White!" Belle angrily retorted. "You really think I will fall for your miserable attempts of manipulation and…"
"Blue!" Regina yelled between Belle's words. "The Blue Fairy!"
"What?" Belle asked confused. The Blue Fairy had never actually been an enemy of the Dark One. She presented herself more as an annoying interference than an actual obstacle or danger to her plans. Belle could not imagine the irritating little good-willed creature to promote the murder of children.
"Blue! Reul Ghorm! The Supreme Fairy Godmother!" Regina yelled the tittles at Belle. "She inherited the ancient power and mission to protect the Enchanted Forest from Primordials. Above all she is very much beloved by humans. It was she who convinced the Hunters that all Primordial children have to be killed! You don't believe, then ask them! I suggest you procure a certain Astor!"
"You lie!" Belle angrily accused, while she pressed her thin but strong fingers around the queen's neck.
"What do you think Blue will do now that she knows the Hunters failed? To who do you think she will work her "good" charms and convince the start of a war against the two most powerful villains in the Enchanted Forest?" The Evil Queen questioned with a defying tone. She could see fear fill the blue eyes and the fingers released a bit of their grasp around her neck. "Snow and Charming! The most beloved and powerful couple of the Enchanted Forest! Your son will never be safe in this Realm!"
At these words, Belle let go of Regina and took a few steps back. She understood where Regina wanted to go. She wanted the curse. The Evil Queen was manipulating her with fears so she would finally achieve her ambitious desires. But if what Regina told her was true, if Blue was the one behind all this Hunting mess, then Myrddin would truly never be safe. Without adding a word, Belle disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
…
Rumpelstiltskin took a deep sigh as he stood immobile in the middle of a road, between tall trees. He stared for what felt a long time at a humble but cozy looking wooden house, surrounded by a wonderful garden of colorful flowers. He could see butterflies merrily fly around the different flowers, the bees working diligently, little birds jumping on the grass while they scanned the surroundings always alert for predators. The place emanated such a pleasant sense of peacefulness that for moments, Rumpelstiltskin forgot the reason he had travelled to this address. It was so idyllic that he forgot temporarily all his present worries and troubles that weighed heavily in his heart. It was the voice of an old man that woke him up from his reveries. He blinked a few times and then saw the man standing behind a small gate.
"Can I help you?" The man repeated.
"Yes, actually you can." Rumpelstiltskin said. The man's eyes followed the visitor without a smile but also free from wariness. He watched as the short slender man came closer until he rested his hands on the small gate. He looked intently into his grey eyes. "I am procuring a man called Astor."
"And who asks for him?"
"Rumpelstiltskin."
A silence befell between them as the older man released an inaudible gasp, turned pale and his eyes shone from shock. Never in his dreams would he guess this unsuspicious man with kind features and an appeasing voice would be the monster his ancestors spoke about. He looked everything but dangerous. The silver-haired man could only think of a reason for the creature to come to his doorstep.
"Are you here to kill me?"
"No. There has been a murder attempt on my sons. I need answers."
"Sons?" Astor questioned, horrifying shock staining his voice. Norman and Blue had only spoken about one child. Many questions popped in his head, but one dominated them all. "So they are alive?"
Rumpelstitlskin nodded and smiled when the older man let a sigh of relieve. Astor read the haunting in the brow eyes and quickly understood the reason behind the Primordial's visit. He opened the gate and invited his ancestor's nemesis to enter his home. Rumpelstiltskin had come not as a survivor of the ancient race, nor as the Dark One's messenger, but as a father.
…
The two men sat by a small table inside the humble house and drunk a warm tea together. If anybody had ever told Astor he would, one day, be fraternizing with a Primordial he would never had believed. As a small child, he grew up with the stories his father and the father before him told him about the Primordials. During his youth, curiosity brought him to one of the most ancient libraries to search information about the First People. During all his life, he believed sternly in the concept these were terrifying beings, the incarnation of evil, with barbaric tendencies like the lust for power, violence, death and blood. Now that he met Rumpelstiltskin in person, his whole perception about the wars 500 years ago changed. For the first time in his life he questioned himself. Who was truly thirsty for power back then?
Rumpelstiltskin was a quiet and intelligent man. His recount about his confrontation with Norman and the other Hunters proved he was also compassionate and forgiving. Astor doubted he would have acted the same manner. The former spinner struck him as a well-educated man holding high moral standards. In short, he was positively impressed by him. He could be a Primordial, a being possessing an immense source of power, but he was above all a Human in all senses of the word. He had the power, yes. But not the desire to use it, or better, to misuse it. Rumpelstiltskin came today as a complete surprise for Astor, because he was the complete opposite of what he expected a Primordial would be.
"So you refused to be part of the Hunting?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, but already knew the answer. Astor was quite like him, actually. He held the same kind of ethical principles and considered life in general precious, especially those of children.
"Yes. Norman banned me from the Order of the Hunters for betrayal. Which is fine to me. I prefer to betray an outdated organization with dubious motives than to betray my own integrity."
"Were you the only one?"
"Unfortunately. There were others that disliked the idea, though. They had a dilemma. You see, the battle against Primordials is a part of our identity, we are bond to the past. Besides, the knowledge that we are the descendants of a line of warriors and victors in history, always gave us Hunters a sense of pride. We are loyal to our ancestry. It's what defines and unites us. But 500 years have passed by and many things have changed. Most members from the Order of Hunters have lost all the riches and the glories from their ancestors. I'm sure many of them consider themselves failures and so they cling to their old lineage to have some sense of dignity."
"That's a sickening thought!"
"It is. But it is alas the reality. It's unbelievable what people are capable of doing for their own personal yearnings." Astor dejectedly said. There was a pause and Rumpelstiltskin took a sip of his tea before speaking.
"Not only men. I understand the Blue Fairy set the Hunters up to this hunting."
He finally came to the point. This was what he wanted to know. Was the supposedly altruistic fairy behind this all? Because if she was, she was obviously playing her very own political agenda by giving indirectly the command to execute children. And that was the evilest and most devious thing he could imagine somebody doing. If Blue was truly behind this, then she was the greatest villain ever, acting behind a façade of goodness.
"Yes." Astor answered and Rumpelstiltskin's heart jolted from despair, fear and revolt. "It was shocking. Blue insisted your boy, the eldest (because we didn't know there was a baby too), had to die. In the end, she told us the only way to keep the peace and balance in the Enchanted Forest was the definitive destruction of your kin." Astor grimly spoke.
"She will start a war." Rumpelstiltskin whispered to himself, remembering Belle's frightened look when she uttered these words earlier today. Astor lifted his head but said nothing. The Primordial locked his brown eyes on Astor's grey ones. "Do you think she knew about my baby?"
There was a short pause before the older man spoke. His eyes looked older than his face. They were intelligent, sharp and wise, but also filled with great sadness and disappointment. He broke the eye contact and instead casted them down. Astor carefully placed his tea mug on the table and intertwined his fingers like if he was going to pray. Suddenly years of a hard and challenging life took the toll on his worn-out face. He shrugged his shoulders and released a mournful sigh.
"What is it that the Blue Fairy doesn't know?"
…
"So what are we going to do?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he entered the living room. Belle was by the long table, which was covered with books of all sizes. The Dark One shivered, not from the cold, but from dread. With all the centuries of experience, with all the knowledge books could give, there was no solution she could find. None, but one.
"We have no choice." Belle sadly said while she sat defeated on the chair. "There is simply no other way." Tears threatened to spill from her beautiful eyes. Rumpelstiltskin had often told her a parent would do anything to protect his child and she now finally understood his words. Myrddin was in peril and the love she felt for her baby impulse her to take the most extreme measures. "Regina has to unleash the Dark Curse."
"What will happen then?" Rumpelstiltskin asked while he rested his hands on her small shoulders and rubbed them gently, trying to comfort her and release some of the accumulated tension.
"We will be transported to a realm with no magic. Lose our memories and forget who we are." Belle bitterly explained. "Time will cease to exist and we will keep living the same day every day, over and over and over again. We will all be puppets in Regina's hands, everybody's happy ending will be stripped away. Because that is Regina's happy ending."
"But we will stay together, right?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, needing to feel reassured. "As long as we stay together, we will be all right."
He kissed Belle's head and she lifted up, turned around so she could embrace her true love fully. Yes, that was something she could arrange with Regina. Make a deal and take the risk. Rumpelstiltskin had said more than once than when she would be a mother, her love for her child would be so great, she would be able to go to extremes to protect the child and ensure his happiness. Now Belle was a mother and she would take a whole realm with her to a new world, just to make sure little Myrddin would remain safe. Belle, as a mother, was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. She was willing to lose her magic, her power and memories to make sure nobody could hurt her boy.
