He should have known. He could have guessed, the moment that Nimue had told him a Dark One had tracked the potion he needed to Oz, it should have been unfailingly obvious that it would be with Zelena. How could it not be? That girl spent all her time in the Emerald City, in the palace that had been built by the Wizard, who had collected magical artifacts to use with others. Naturally, the Elixir of the Wounded Heart would have been with him. Or rather it had been until Zelena turned him into a flying monkey. Now the Elixir was in her possession. He hadn't a clue if she even knew what she truly possessed, but he knew one thing…he couldn't go after it himself.
Zelena was smart, she was a clever little witch, and though they'd been moved she'd had those shoes in her possession long enough to do who knew what with him. Even if she hadn't planned on despising him and leaving the day that they'd parted ways, he trusted that her castle was fortified against him. He trusted that if he appeared in that realm, she would know about it and have none of it. No, she couldn't kill him, but he also couldn't risk her finding out the reason that he was there. If he wasn't successful, then she'd protect that potion with her life, and he'd never see it…if it was even necessary. Nimue had said that the issue with his heart going black was a risk, but one that was a long way away. He didn't even know if he'd ever come to truly need it in his lifetime.
Still, he'd searched through the bobbles and instructions that Jefferson had left him and found only one way into the Land of Oz. It was a single potion that when sloshed onto a mirror would take the individual to the room of doors they'd encountered when they'd gone to the Land Without Color. This meant that it wasn't a direct line to Oz; it was simply a direct line to any realm someone wished to go to. That made the potion highly valuable. Was this really what he was willing to waste it on?
No, he wasn't. At least not at first. It would be years, Nimue had said, and so he'd begun to bother himself with other things, like master the use of the fairy wand he'd acquired so long ago. But while Nimue had said the change to his heart was not a threat, it was clear that one of the Dark Ones disagreed. The moment he'd made up his mind not to use the potion, he'd felt that sting across his chest once more. He'd diverted the magic, used his own to chase it away. But someone in his head was playing tricks on him, and every time he got too involved in doing something else, the pain would spike. Clearly, someone disagreed with the great Nimue, and they were sending him the message the only way they could, but who was it? If he knew who he could talk to them himself and not just through Nimue! He could search through memories and materials, it would give him a hint! But when he tried to isolate a voice, come up with the name of the Dark One he should speak to about the pain, none arrived, and he was certain that if he talked to Nimue again, she'd give him the same answer. That left him with one option. He had to send someone for the cordial. It was the only way he'd get peace and be able to work.
So who was he to send? Well, the most straightforward answer was the least likely at the moment. Jefferson. He could talk to Jefferson, the boy still had his hat, he could simply have him go and retrieve it, and then he'd have no use for the potion at all.
But he couldn't. He'd been watching Jefferson ever since he'd left to go to his wife and new baby. Six months ago, his wife had died. He'd been left alone with his daughter, and his mental state…it was dark. He watched him enough to know that when he was with his daughter, his face lit up brighter than the sun, but the moment she was asleep, he hung his head, he cried, he surrendered to a different kind of mad darkness. He considered asking the old fellow to help, even wondered if it might give him a sense of purpose again, but as he watched him sit by the fireplace one night, head in his hands, shoulders hunched…he couldn't bring himself to do it. It had been years since Jefferson had gone to Oz, even then, he'd had issues with Zelena and the Wizard, now he was grieving and out of practice. Maybe one day he'd be fit for service again, but at the moment he was far from the ideal candidate.
He needed someone else. Someone talented enough to sneak into Oz undetected, fetch the cordial, and bring it back. He needed someone who could be bought, someone desperate enough that they might try something crazy.
"Show me the one I need," he ordered his glass ball one night when he'd been fiddling with his potions and felt the tug on his heart again. The image that appeared before him was of a boy, someone he'd never seen before. He was handsome, golden locks that he was sure women would swoon over. He appeared to be at a pub, sitting alone, nursing an ale. As he idly twisted the cup in front of him, he could make out the image of a lion tattoo on his wrist. Interesting, though he wore an apron, there was a hint of something more to him. But what was it?
He gasped.
He felt his hand automatically clutch the crystal ball in his hand, ensuring that he wouldn't drop it, but then surrendered himself to the inevitable. This was a vision. One of the future but the very near future.
Tomorrow.
It would happen tomorrow.
As soon as he knew it, he registered the fact that he was seeing back inside that pub his mystery man had been sitting in. That very man was now working the bar, pouring ale, getting drinks, but also listening to a man who was sitting there.
John, the Seer whispered in his ear. Little John.
Looking the man over, he suddenly had a new definition for the word irony.
"I have a fresh lead," the man stated to his potential thief. "King Midas's carriage is passing through town tomorrow, and he'll only have a few of his guards with him."
"You know I haven't so much as lifted a penny since Marian and I got married," the man retorted. "Look around. This is my new life."
"But you're not a barkeep…you're a thief."
Ah yes, his potential thief was gaining more and more of that potential every moment. And now he had a name for the wife. Marian. That was useful information.
But before he could contemplate the importance of that, the vision shifted. The pub he was in was suddenly very quiet. And his thief was talking to a man dressed in black clothes. A guard…one of Regina's? It was the right color. That gave him a potential location, somewhere in Regina's Kingdom.
"Well, I had to see this for myself," the guard stated in a mocking tone. "Robin of Locksley walking the straight and narrow. Nice apron. M'lady…"
Suddenly the vision was filled with a pretty woman, olive skin and dark hair, who appeared less than excited to see the man before her. He on the other hand was very excited. Robin of Locksley and his wife Marian. Not only did he have their names but also a location. Locksley located just north of Sherwood Forest and certainly a part of Regina's Kingdom.
That was all valuable information, but he could feel his chest squeezing now for a reason far different than his heart problems. He'd be damned if he forced this vision to end now. He wanted every last detail of it. Even the unamused "Sheriff" reply the woman gave was informative.
It told him she detested him with every bone in her body.
"What can I do for you, Nottingham?" Robin questioned, pulling the guard's attention off of his wife. It was a very telling kind of attention he'd been paying her. The kind that made his own stomach curdle. He may have been the Dark One, but at least he had a moral standard he'd never sink below, unlike this fellow.
"What can you do for me?" the Sheriff asked, helping himself to some ale. "Well, for starters, your taxes are overdue."
There was a bang. In his head, he saw someone pound a notice into the door. Tax notice. More useful information.
"I need time," the man insisted.
"Well, because I'm in a generous mood, I'm giving you two days. After that, I'll have no choice but to shutter your tavern and throw you in debtor's prison. And poor old Marian here will have no arms to hold her but mine."
"She'd never be with you," Robin growled, staring at the man.
"I can speak for myself," Marian insisted. "I'd never be with you," she stated, looking at the Sheriff with even more disgust than he'd thought was possible to muster.
"Well, when you are on the street, and your husband is in jail, perhaps you'll see my appeal."
"I'll find your money. Somehow."
"Really? Two days."
He pulled himself out of his vision with a smile. This conversation hadn't happened yet. Tomorrow afternoon it would, and then the countdown would begin. In three days, he'd have his potion.
Ack! This stupid episode flashback. There aren't many flashbacks that I truly hate, but this one was just so problematic from the beginning. A&E screwed up the timeline on this one really bad, to the point that I offer no kind alternatives for what they were thinking other than "let's give Robin fans a half-assed episode and oh, lets also us Will Scarlet because he's around this season". So, in this chapter, we see one of the first problems with the timeline. In every episode (and trust me, I've done my research), A&E put in at least one timeline indicator. Whether it's a line, or clothes, or a reference to something else, there is usually always something that indicates where we are in the timeline. I think they attempted to do it here, but sort of hope that I'm wrong because they got it so wrong. I think they tried to use Little John's statement about Midas' carriage as their indication that this is around the time that Snow and Charming meet. But here's the thing, it can't be Midas' carriage. I mean, it could be, be it absolutely cannot be during that time. I know that because in this episode he acquires the charm to change his appearance. He has it when he first meets Belle in her yellow dress. But Midas' carriage comes by when Snow and David first meet, later we find out that is when Emma and Hook arrive from the future and when they arrive they go to the Dark Castle and we see Belle in her blue dress. So unless she's going backwards, there is no time for this to be at the same time as the important Midas carriage passing through. Further to that point. It seemed pretty obvious to me that there was no Roland in this episode. But in the episode Belle meets Robin, it's clear Marion is pregnant and in the Back to the Future episode, Roland is already born. Whew! That's a long explanation for something that I can simply tell you...just trust me. I did my research and a lot of it for such an insignificant episode. This is before the place A&E put it on the timeline. So we're just gonna go with the idea it's a random Midas' Carriage. Okay?
Thank you to Jennifer Baratta, Alarda, and Grace5231973 for your reviews on the last part. Always happy to please you with some Nimue sass. We'll see her again, she's going to continue to show up briefly throughout Rumple's chronicles. But as for where we're at now, there are two more chapters for this episode. And there are other things wrong with it, but I think the other really big one has already sort of been handled. I knew it was coming and planned for it. If you are curious, we'll get there soon enough. Peace and Happy Reading!
