Chapter 3: The Thing You Love Most
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, only my OC.
Storybrooke
Azuron sat in the diner, with a plate of bacon, eggs, a slice of toast, and a cup of iced tea. In his hand, he held the latest edition of the Daily Mirror.
He sat in a booth, glossing over the newspaper, which really wasn't all that interesting given its rather blatant bias, and there really wasn't all that much worth reading anyway. Just gossip, rumors, and triviality. That was the trouble with living in a small town, hardly anything interesting ever happened.
That is, until recently…
Emma Swan had arrived, and with her arrival the clock had started ticking again.
This was a good sign, it meant that the curse was starting to weaken.
He would observe her progress, and help her as needed, of course. Between him and Gold, he was the more benevolent and approachable one.
'Speak of the Devil.' Azuron thought, as Emma came in with a newspaper and sat down at the counter.
After a few moments, he noticed Henry subtly conversing with Ruby, and she brought his mother a mug of hot chocolate.
"Here you go." said Ruby
"Thank you... but I did not order that." Emma said.
"Yeah, I know. You have an admirer." Ruby said.
Emma turned and saw Graham sitting in a booth.
"Ah, so you decided to stay." he said.
"Observant. Important for a cop." Emma said wryly.
"That's good news for our tourist business, bad for our local signage." he joked.
Emma gave him a look, "It's–it's a joke... because you ran over our sign."
"Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon in my chocolate, 'cause most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so, thank you, but no thank you." Emma said, setting the mug on the table.
"I didn't send it." Graham said.
"I did." Henry spoke up, "I like cinnamon, too."
"Don't you have school?" Emma asked.
"Duh, I'm ten. Walk me." said Henry.
And they got up, paid for the cocoa, and promptly left for the school.
'Well, at least she's trying to build a relationship with him.' Azuron thought, 'But how long until Regina interferes?' He wondered, as he went back to his newspaper and breakfast.
The answer to his question came soon enough, he was at his office working, when Henry and Mary Margaret came to see him.
"Good afternoon, you two," Azuron said politely, "what can I do for you two?"
"We need to bail my mom out of jail." Henry blurted.
Azuron was certainly not expecting that, "I beg your pardon?" He asked, confused.
"His real mom, not the mayor." Mary Margaret explained.
'That didn't take long.' Azuron thought.
"I see," said Azuron calmly, "would I be correct in assuming Regina had something to do with Miss Swan's present situation?" he asked.
The look they both gave was all the answer he required.
"Please, Mr. Indigo, we need your help. You're the only one with enough money who might help us." Mary Margaret pleaded.
Taking pity on them, Azuron nodded, "Very well, I'm not lacking in finances, I suppose I could be persuaded to help you." he said, giving the two a slight smile.
And in a way, it would help himself as well, it would get the Savior to trust him a bit more.
"You know the shrink is lying, right?" said Emma.
"To the right, please. Why would he lie?" asked Graham.
"The Mayor put him up to this.. she's gotta have something on him. He's terrified of her, like everyone else in this—–town." said Emma.
"To the left. Regina may be a touch intimidating, but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame-job." said Graham.
"How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?" asked Emma.
"Well, she's the Mayor. She has her hands in everything." Graham explained.
"Including the police force?" asked Emma rhetorically.
Graham gave her a look.
Suddenly Henry ran in, followed by Mary Margaret and Azuron.
"Hey!" exclaimed Henry.
"Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?" asked Graham.
"His mother told him what happened." explained Mary Margaret.
"Of course she did! exclaimed Emma, "I don't know what she said––"
"You're a genius!" said Henry.
"What?" asked Emma, confused.
"You were gathering intel." he said, "For "Operation Cobra." he whispered.
"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost.." said Graham.
"It's need-to-know, Sheriff, and all you need to know is that Mr. Indigo's gonna bail her out." said Henry.
"Indeed Sheriff," said Azuron, "I will post Miss Swan's bail." he said holding an envelope filled with cash.
"You are? Why? You don't even know me?" said Emma.
"Well Miss Swan, I suppose you could say, I have the best interests of the community at heart." said Azuron, "Besides, I'm not lacking in financial resources."
"And you're going along with this too, Mary Margaret?" asked Graham.
"Yes," said Mary Margaret, "I trust her."
"Right, well. If you could uncuff me.. I have something to do." said Emma.
After being uncuffed, Emma left the station, followed by Henry and Mary Margaret.
"Are you going to buy my silence?" Graham asked.
Azuron shook his head, "Certainly not, your silence should come without saying so, considering whom you are speaking to."
"You do realize that once Regina finds out that you were the one who posted bail, she's going to after you too, right?" Graham asked.
Azuron shrugged nonchalantly, "She's welcome to try, but if she does, she'll soon discover that pursuing me is more trouble than it's worth."
The Enchanted Forest
Rumplestiltskin was in his cell, waiting for the Queen to appear at any moment. Since her initial attempt to cast the Curse failed, she would undoubtedly come to him to discover what was wrong.
He noticed two things that stood out to him.
A raven sat on an empty torch sconce, preening its wings, as if waiting for something.
He glanced at a mouse eating an apple on the floor, able to sense the magic on both of them.
He grinned, this would be fun.
"It's just us, dearie. You can show yourself!" said Rumplestiltskin.
In a swirl of purple smoke the mouse transformed into Regina, "That curse you gave me, it's not working." She said.
"Oh so worried," he grinned, walking to the bars, "So, so worried. Like Snow and her lovely new husband."
"What?" she glared.
He giggled, "They paid me a visit as well. They were very anxious…about you and the curse."
Regina stepped closer toward the bars, "What'd you tell them?" she demanded.
"The truth!" He said, gesturing dramatically, "That nothing can stop the darkness. Except, of course, their unborn child. You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken."
He paused for dramatic effect, "Their child is the key. Of course, the curse has to be enacted first."
"Tell me what I did wrong." she demanded.
"For that, there's a price." said Rumplestiltskin.
"What do you want?" Regina asked.
"Simple," he leaned towards the bars, "In this new land, I want comfort. I want a good life."
"Fine! You'll have an estate, be rich."
"I wasn't finished!" he shouted, "There's more!"
"There always is with you," she huffed.
"Yeah, yeah... In this new land," he paused, looked subtly at the raven and winked,"should I or an associate of mine, ever come to you for any reason, you must heed our every request. You must do whatever we say. So long as we say…" he paused in thought, "Please."
"You do realize that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this? Either of you." said Regina.
"Oh well, then what's the harm?" said Rumplestiltskin.
Regina smirked, "Deal. What must I do to enact this curse?"
"You need to sacrifice a heart." he said.
"I sacrificed my prized steed." said Regina.
"A horse?" said Rumplestiltskin, reaching through the bars and grabbing Regina by the throat, "This is the curse to end all curses! You think a horse is gonna do? Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need must come from something far more precious." he said.
"Tell me what will suffice." said Regina.
"The heart of the thing you love most." said Rumplestilskin.
Regina ripped the Dark One's hand from her throat, "What I loved most died because of Snow White!" she snarled.
"Ooh," he stroked her cheek, "Is there no one else you truly love?"
After a moment, Regina realized what he was saying, what she had to do to enact the curse.
"This curse isn't gonna be easy. Vengeance never is, dearie. You have to ask yourself a simple question. How far are you willing to go?" said Rumplestiltskin.
"As far as it takes." she said, steeling herself for what she had to do.
"Then please stop wasting everyone's time and just do it! You know what you love... now go kill it!" said Rumplestiltskin.
Regina then teleported away in a puff of purple smoke.
"You can reveal yourself now, dearie." he said to the raven, "she's gone now."
The raven cawed and flew from the sconce and transformed in a swirl of blue smoke.
"An excellent idea." said Azuron, "giving us both some form of power over Regina in the other realm."
"I thought so, too." said the Dark One.
"It is a shame, though, that others must bear the cost of sacrifice, so that we might achieve our ends." mused Azuron regretfully, referring to the price of casting the curse.
For a moment, Rumplestiltskin looked less like a monster with golden scaly skin, and more like a human, as he had once been.
"Indeed, it is a shame, but as we both know, in this instance, it is the only way." said Rumplestiltskin sounding more human than he appeared to be.
Azuron nodded regretfully, in his heart he had known it too, but that did not make living with it any easier.
But experience had taught him that dwelling on such things for prolonged periods of time was pointless.
"I suppose I had better get the last of my affairs in order, the curse will soon be upon us." said Azuron.
Rumplestiltskin nodded, "Indeed you should, farewell, Blue Pilgrim. Until we meet again, in this world… or the next."
Azuron smiled slightly, "See you in 28 years, Rumplestiltskin." he said, and disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Leaving the Dark One to himself.
"Count on it, dearie." he said.
Storybrooke
Azuron sat at Mary Margaret's apartment, indulging in a plate of cookies and milk, while Mary Margaret sat doing some needlework.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, it was Emma, holding an envelope.
"Hey," said Emma, "Just wanted to say thank you and, um, pay you back the bail money." she said handing Azuron the envelope, but Emma looked troubled.
"You look like something's on your mind." Azuron observed.
Emma sat down at the table, as Mary Margaret brought her a cup of hot cocoa, "Cinnamon?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should have asked." said Mary Margaret, "It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?" she asked.
"Not at all. Thanks. When you two bailed me out, you said.. that you trusted me." said Emma.
"It's strange—ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling, like we've met before. I mean, I know it's crazy." said Mary Margaret.
'If only she knew.' thought Azuron.
"I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy." said Emma.
"For what it's worth, we think you're innocent." said Mary Margaret, referring to herself and Azuron.
"Of breaking and entering, or just in general?" asked Emma.
"Whichever makes you feel better." said Mary Margaret laughing.
"Doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do. I'm leaving." said Emma, Thank you both for everything, but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's only gonna keep getting hurt." she said.
"What happens if you go?" said Azuron speaking up, "I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won't?" asked Azuron.
Emma looked thoughtful, then she nodded.
"You're right," said Emma, "I'm not ditching town. But I do need to see Henry. Thank you both. For the advice and the hot chocolate." Emma said, smiling before leaving the apartment.
"Well, that was an interesting conversation," said Azuron getting up to leave, "but I must be on my way, as well." he said, grabbing his cane. "Thank you again for the cookies."
Regina was outside Town Hall, attempting to mend her apple tree. After Emma had cut a large limb off of it.
"What a mess." said Gold as he approached her.
"Not for long. What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?" asked Regina.
"I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits." said Gold.
Regina chuckled, "Well, it's been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."
"Emma Swan? Really?" asked Gold.
"Yes. I imagine she's halfway to Boston by now." Regina said.
Gold plucked an apple from the tree, "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that. I've just seen her strolling down the main street with your boy. Thick as thieves, they looked." he said.
"What?"
"Perhaps you should have come to me." said Gold, "If Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help, for a price, of course."
Regina chuckled, "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore." she said, turning back to the tree.
"To which deal are you referring?" asked Gold.
"You know what deal." said Regina.
"Oh, right, yeah. The boy I procured for you." said Gold, "Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? How ever did you pick it?" he asked.
Regina turned back to face him, "Did you want her to come to town? You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?" Regina accused.
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Gold innocently.
"Where did you get him?" Regina asked.
Gold pointedly remained silent.
"Do you know something?" Regina asked.
"I've no idea what you're implying." said Gold.
"I think you do. Who is this woman, his mother, this... Emma Swan?" Regina asked.
Gold smirked, "I would say you think you know exactly who she is. I really must be going."
Gold made to leave, but Regina cut him off.
"Tell me what you know about her." Regina demanded.
"I'm not gonna answer you, dear, so I suggest you excuse me. Please." He said, taking a bite of the apple.
Regina turned and watched him go as Gold threw the apple over his shoulder.
"That was unwise, Rumple." Azuron said later as they sat in his home, playing another game of chess, "tipping your hand in front of Regina like that, she undoubtedly suspects something now."
"Good, let her. That's what I want." said Gold moving one of his pawns forward.
"I still think it's going to come back to bite you sooner rather than later." said Azuron cautiously, moving one of his knights' forward.
"Time will tell," said Gold, "your move, dearie."
A/N: I apologize for the long wait, my parents are moving again and I've had to help them. So I haven't had much time or energy to write lately. I hope this chapter makes up for it.