Chapter 3
David and Arthur
In Camelot everyone was in Merlin's tower to try and discover a way to free Merlin. "If we want to free Merlin I need witchbane" Regina stated.
Belle looked through all Merlin's pots and said "it's gonna take some time, all the labels are faded."
Neal said "technically speaking how are you sure that will work? It's not a glamour spell".
Mary-Margaret agreed "he's right the tree could actually be him".
Belle suggested "we could take a sample".
Regina replied "and when we break off a twig and it turns into a finger then who's crying? Come on witchbane".
Emma asked "are you sure you don't want me to"...
Everyone said "no".
Regina said "the whole point of me pretending to be the saviour is so you don't have to. Until Merlin destroys the darkness you need to lay off the magic".
David said "she's right".
Coming in Arthur said "saying a woman is right, always the safest guess".
Neal mentioned "with Emma it's the only guess".
Arthur gave him a nod and then turned to Regina "how goes the progress Madam saviour".
Regina said "we're working on it, slowly but surely".
Belle added "it's great having Merlin's old books to work by it's like talking to him".
Mary-Margaret asked "what if we could actually talk to him".
"Yes" Regina said and started flipping though a book. "You are occasionally a genius. I just read something that could work".
She stopped on a page and showed it to everyone David said "a mushroom"
Neal said "actually it's a toadstool since it's red with white spots".
Regina read out "it's a deadly poison, extremely useful for communicating between barrier's even spell's. It say's right here it's called 'The Crimson Crown'.
"I do believe I've heard of it" Arthur mentioned. "It's rumoured to grow Ambrose Leon, the forest of eternal night, it's existence is the stuff of legends, positively fiction".
David replied "in our world people say the same of us. How far"?
Arthur replied "half a day's ride but if it is there it will be protected by magic".
David said "that's never stopped me before".
Arthur asked "and perhaps I could be of some assistance".
Regina found a piece of paper with a question mark in a book and showed it to Mary-Margaret and David. "This is my handwriting, I'm not sure if this is the right answer but these books came from Camelot, I think we were looking in this for answers".
"We've been robbed" Leroy cried coming into the sheriff's office followed by the other dwarves.
David asked "what happened"?
"What do you think" asked Leroy. "I just said we've been robbed, by your kid".
Happy added "she took my axe".
Leaving Regina said "dwarves are your department".
David asked "what do you want us to do"?
"Be our sheriff" Leroy replied. "Do something about it, if you don't we will".
Mary-Margaret said "don't hurt her".
Leroy replied "like that's all that matters, she's not Emma anymore",
David said "we will see about getting the axe back".
Leroy replied "looks like just another insult for us to take".
When they left Mary-Margaret asked "why does she need a axe, am I the only for finds that unnerving".
David shook his head and answered "I don't know, what could she do with an axe that she couldn't do with her powers. And the worst part is I can't save her".
"Yet, we're trying".
"How, what am I doing"?
"You're leading"
"No one seems to be following" gesturing to the dwarves who just left.
"Oh don't worry about the dwarves".
"I'm not, I'm worried about Emma and how this is my fault".
"Your fault, how is anything your fault"?
"I'm her father, when she took on the darkness to save Regina I didn't do anything to stop her. I can't do anything for her, for you, for anyone, I'm feeling paralyzed".
"You are doing something, you are helping as best you can".
"That's my problem".
"In any world you are my hero, remember"?
"Of course".
With David feeling a bit more useful Mary-Margaret left and David stared at a photo of he and Emma in front of the patrol car. Arthur came in "good morning Sheriff".
"Your majesty, did you find your sword"?
"No luck finding Excalibur but I come to you with a more serious issue. Our reliquary had been robbed".
"Your what"? asked David having never heard of a reliquary.
"Relic's found by the knights of the round table, most are magical and all are valuable. I didn't even know it was in this world until it was found nearly empty".
"When you say valuable"?
"There was a bean which could take me and my subjects back home. I'm determined to recover it".
David said "I'll help in any way I can".
When David and Arthur left to find the Crimson Crown Regina carried on trying to find an alternative in case the Crimson crown didn't work. She wasn't doing well so Robin went to get her some tea leaving her alone with Zelena so they had a chat. "Let's talk about you trying to escape back to Oz" said Regina. "Zelena, you must know I'm not letting you take that child away from Robin".
"Can you blame me, you're going to take it from me. This child could be my one chance to have someone to truly love me. You got a second chance why can't I"?
"A second chance, you had a second chance and a second, second chance".
"Of course, why should I get anything? You will always be the sister who gets everything while I remain the sister who gets nothing. Why can't I have something of my own for once"?
"Maybe because you can't be trusted, and that baby isn't just yours. Now listen to me, you're forgotten who I am, the evil queen, I can be a far greater nightmare than you can imagine. But now my gift to you is a promise, I promise that your will be fine, and safe, and loved. Just as I promise the same will not hold for you. Whatever happens to you depends on how you act. If you can prove you can be trusted I might allow visitation with your child. If you are proven to be just as despicable as you've been in the past the only way you're going to see your child is through a photograph".
A man named Grif approached Arthur and David with a chest. When David opened it only a few small objects remained. Arthur said "Grif here was our reliquary keeper".
David turned to Grif "so you're the one who found it like this, any thoughts who broke into it"?
Grif said "well I heard the dark one is in this land".
Arthur asked "the dark one has so much dark magic already, why would she need anymore"?
David commented "to be fair she stole a dwarf axe this morning".
Arthur replied "but the dark one doesn't need tools and look here". He pointed to the lock "there's scratches meaning someone used a pick to open it. The dark one would be able to open it with a wave of her hand.
David said "you're right, this was done by someone without magic, I might not know who robbed you but I have a safe bet where there next stop will be".
Neal and the kids came into Granny's to have some lunch, Granny immediately gave them two bags. Neal said "we didn't order yet".
Granny said "I had an order for you on my list".
Neal took it and saw an address and recognized it Henry asked "what is it"?
Neal replied "your mom".
Tally asked "what does Regina want"?
Neal shook his head "wrong mother"?
They arrived at Emma's new house Emma appeared at once in a sleeveless black dress and said "welcome home".
Neal asked "what is this"?
Emma replied "since we got back I realize things have been confusing, and I regrettably have made things even more so. I thought we could have a nice family lunch and talk, and I missed all of you. No one ever said the dark one can't have a family".
Neal nodded and replied "true no one ever did say that, but I have witnessed a lot of evidence suggesting it".
Emma said "maybe I can convince you other wise and the bag disappeared out of Neal's hand and onto plates on the table, "Come on I ordered all your favourites".
Once Tally smelt the chocolate she ran to the table but Henry and Neal slowly made their way to the table suspiciously.
David and Arthur went to Mr Gold's pawn shop where Belle continued staring at the Rose which didn't have many petals left. "How is he" David asked?
Belle said "pretty much the same, if the Rose is right it won't be much longer now. I did find a spell that could save him but I'm missing a crucial ingredient; something which touched him before he was the dark one. Unfortunately the majority of those items are in the enchanted forest if not all".
Arthur asked "David, shouldn't we ask her"?
David replied "oh yes, Belle had anyone come in to pawn anything today".
Belle shook her head "no I'm sorry, and I've been here all day. I never leave for more than a moment. While the petals remain I still have hope he can be saved".
David saw a shiny chalice "maybe we can find out who the thief is another way" and he picked it up.
Belle mentioned "It's not magical, it's a souvenir from Doc's birthday party, it says Doctoberfest on it".
David said "but no one else needs to know that. One time when Emma, Neal and Regina were trying to find who had cast a curse Emma have a trick to figure it out. She never needed any dark magic to be clever. It was a con by smoking out the suspect by making them think you're onto them and I've found the innocent don't usually run"?
They showed the people of Camelot the cup and David announced "people of Camelot there has a been theft in your encampment. This cup will tell us who the culprit is for it is the Chalice of Vengeance. Line up and take a sip to prove your innocence". It was at that moment Grif ran off and David and Arthur chased him. David eventually knocked him of his horse with a wooden beam.
David and Arthur travelled to Ambrose Leon. There was a weak bridge between them so David used a spyglass to make sure it was there. Sure enough there it was so he had to go get it. He took one step on the bridge and saw it was weaker than he thought. "It won't take both of us, you stay here I'll go get it".
Arthur agreed "very well David, let the torch be your beacon back".
David steadily made his way across the bridge. He cut the toadstool and was on his way back when suits of armour came to life to try and drown him. He defeated three when he tried getting across the bridge a glove tripped him and a suit of armour pulled him down but Arthur manage to pull him out of the water and they made it across the bridge.
As they had lunch in an awkward silence Neal said "alright, I'm going to come out and say it, this feels weird".
Emma changed her appearance to look like her old self and said "does this make you feel less weird".
Neal shook his head and said "it's just not the same. You're not the same".
Emma replied "I know, I'm better. I used to be scarred, judgemental, and closed up. It took forever for me to see the magic in this place. Now I'm better, I'm not afraid anymore".
Henry asked "then can you tell us what you're planning"?
Emma answered "my end plan is a secret, but I can tell you the next part involves saving someone from the brink of death".
Tally excitedly asked "who"?
Emma said "you'll just have to be surprised, the point is I'm doing something good. Dark magic can still be used for good".
Neal said "cheating death is the darkest of all undertakings".
Emma answered "you'll going to see soon my end plan will be best for everyone".
Henry asked "then why take away everyone's memories"?
Emma said "it was unfortunate but necessary but when everything is over I'll give back everyone's memories and you'll see it was what was best for the time being.
Neal still wasn't convinced "I've seen the darkness turn a gentle spinner into a calculating deal-maker. Can you seriously say the darkness made him better".
Emma replied "depends how you look at it. He was a coward abandoned by the woman he loved. When he became the dark one he was about to lose the one thing that held any joy for him. Didn't you once tell me he was forced to kiss the boots of a man who humiliated him in front of you so not lose you sooner".
"And once he was the dark one he made the same man kiss his boots before killing him" Neal replied. "He become an evil manipulative killer".
Emma said "I can see we're not going to agree on this point but soon, very soon Neal you'll see this will be for the best".
When David and Arthur got back to the other side David checked the pouch he put the toadstool in and found it gone. He figured one of the suits of armour took it. Arthur told him "the word quest means to seek, not to find. The seeking is what matters".
Grif said "I never saw a bean".
David asked "forget the bean, why did you take this stuff".
"I was tired of how I was being treated, how we were all being treated" Grif replied then looked at Arthur. "Breaking our backs for him, for the love of Camelot. I wanted to hurt the king".
Arthur replied "Grif I had no idea, but you hurt everyone we need that bean".
Grif said "I told already I never saw a bean.
David asked "you know him better, do you think he's lying"?
Arthur replied "there is chance there was never a bean, that is was used during the six weeks we can't recall".
David said "we'll find another way to get you home".
Suddenly David saw a toadstool on the ground next to everything from the reliquary. "I didn't recognize it but it was in the reliquary".
Arthur said "if that was in the reliquary it was added in the time we lost".
David said "I've seen this, Regina found a page she'd marked with an image of this toadstool on it".
David called Mary-Margaret and they met Regina in her vault. When David showed her the toadstool Regina said "this is it, this must be why I marked the page".
Mary-Margaret asked "what is it"?
Regina said "it's called the crimson crown, it's used to communicate through barriers, even spells".
Mary-Margaret asked "so you think we were trying to use it to talk to Merlin"?
Regina answered "possibly".
Mary-Margaret replied "this is the break we've been waiting for, you did it David, you found a way to save our daughter".
Belle came into Granny's to pick up a sandwich to take back to the shop. There weren't many petals left meaning Mr Gold was running out of time. Suddenly Granny asked "is it supposed to do that"?
Belle looked and petals were going back onto the Rose. Belle realised that could only mean he was about to wake up so she ran back to the shop but when she arrived he was gone. In her basement Emma had used a lock of Neal's hair to save Mr Gold with the same spell Belle had found. After all before and after his time as the dark one he had held his son many times. When he opened his eyes and saw Emma it took him only a moment to realise what had happened. "What do you want with me? You're the dark one now, not me"?
Emma agreed "that's right, you're not dark, or light, or anything. Meaning you are as full of possibilities as a newborn babe but with a lot more motor skills. That means I can turn you into the last thing you thought you could be; a hero. Then I have a job for you".
"Give me one good reason why I should, other than saving my life".
"Even dark ones make mistakes" Emma said. "I'm trying to fix it now. I had to extract everyone's memories to get a chance to". She whispered something in his ear and he realized he had little choice.
Who should the other dark one be?
Neal - 2
Anyone Else - 0