Who did he know who had taught Regina to use black birds to carry messages? Who might Regina have accidentally told he had a maid around his castle? Who did he know who had a friend that might be able to easily obtain a sand dollar? Who knew a woman that might be able to force a shifter boy in animal form into his property to lure away a gullible woman? Who would have a bone to pick with him? Who knew magic and wouldn't mind torturing the Gauntlet out of the same young woman she'd kidnapped and would do something stupid like demand the Gauntlet in a half-assed ransom plan?
Maleficent.
Ursula.
Cruella.
He didn't particularly care for the situation they'd placed him in, Belle for the Gauntlet, but by the time he'd returned home and thought of an alternative plan, he was out of time to do anything more than execute that plan. He didn't like it, it was untested, and there was a very real chance that he might not succeed, but thinking of it as one great experiment helped. He wasn't going to pay a ransom for Belle, and he especially wasn't going because he "liked her", as Regina had so childishly accused him of. He was going in order to see an experiment through. If it worked, excellent. If it failed…well he'd only had the Gauntlet for a short time, and he couldn't even work the damn thing. He supposed he couldn't miss what he'd never had. Belle's tea cakes, on the other hand…he might miss those. Besides, though he could see the future, he didn't have time to sit down and meditate on it right now, which meant that for him, the outcome was uncertain. He was a smart man, an experienced dealmaker, trading the Gauntlet wasn't written in stone, for all he knew he could figure a way out of this that included Belle and the Gauntlet.
It wasn't midnight when he finally grabbed the Gauntlet and went to Demon's Bluff, but it was close enough. He couldn't have waited any longer even if he'd wanted to. The thought of Belle at the mercy of those three demons, and the potential to gain an advantage, was too much to resist.
Demon's Bluff was a rocky, dangerous place. It was almost always slippery. The rocks and their height in the sea depended upon the tides. He had a strong suspicion that when high tide came in, this part of the bluff would be underwater, but he couldn't be sure. He'd only ever been once before, and that was when he'd tried to con Ursula into taking him across realms and attempted to steal her trident. The tide had been lower then, but it had been just as dark. Now, he listened as waves crashed around him. To the naked eye, the area around him seemed empty and desolate, but he knew better. Magic was in the air, the kind of Dark Magic he'd encountered plenty of times when he came across Maleficent. Ahead of him was a cave. If he had to guess, they were hiding out, waiting for him. Had he been alone, he would have gone inside. But he wasn't sure where Belle was. He didn't know how they were holding her, her condition, if she'd be fit to move, or if they'd cast a spell that prevented him from taking her. He'd have to play by their rules. For now…
"I have what you want, dearie!" he cried at the top of his lungs. "Now, show yourself!"
He expected to see Maleficent, he figured they'd start with their strongest player and then bring the weakest out holding a knife or some other kind of weapon to Belle's throat. He didn't expect to see his maid come staggering out of the cave first, hands bound with rope so thick she couldn't move them. She looked fine. Perhaps a little upset, but there appeared to be no split lip, no cuts or blood, no black eyes. It was just the look on her face that held his concentration. He'd never seen her scared before.
"Rumple!" she called out. "Help!"
His breath caught, he was a step away from walking over, seizing her up, and carrying her off to the castle. But he was too slow. Before he could take that step and save her, he felt a burst of magic pulsing around her. There was a trap laid around her so that he couldn't do just that. And then…a voice.
"Yes, Rumpelstiltskin! You help her!"
Maleficent's voice carried around the rocks and over the crash of the waves. It was everywhere all at once, a simple, cheap spell. And then there they were an unkindness of black birds that he could see now, up close, were in fact ravens. They were where the voice had come from. Apparently, someone had been practicing a shapeshifting spell.
"Maleficent!" he yelled, a voice he'd only reserved for Baelfire when he was playing games and not being nearly as serious as he'd wanted him to be. She took it to heart; a moment later the ravens formed into the body of a woman and there she was, the dragon herself. He could kill her for all this. In fact, he still wasn't past killing her if necessary, it would certainly take whatever spell she'd placed on Belle away and allow him to leave with her. But he'd learned in his time not to be rash and considering he was certain there were still two more people about that he hadn't seen yet, a decision like that seemed the definition of "rash".
"Oh! I am impressed!" he smiled giddily, waving his hands in the air like a silly excited child. He loved putting people at ease before he killed them. "Didn't think you had it in you!"
"I'm not here for your praise," Maleficent stated coolly. "Give me the Gauntlet, and you can have your wench back."
Wench. Something about that word twisted his stomach. Maybe because it was what that sick sheriff had called Belle when he tried to make a deal as well, but he felt a bit of his control ebb at that word. She was not "his wench" not in any way Maleficent or the sheriff or even Regina thought! But, furthermore, the only one allowed to call her such things, would be him.
"Well…seeing as how you asked so nicely!" He let his magic loose and watched with delight as Maleficent was thrown into the night sky, hoisted higher and higher by her throat. He rejoiced with every last gag and choke that made it's way from her mouth to his ears. It was as sweet as a nightingale's song. "You think you can steal from the Dark One and live?" he questioned menacingly. "Fatal mistake, dearie! Any last words?"
There was a pause as the woman gathered her breath. "I'm…not…alone," she finally whispered, somehow managing a raspy and cold chuckle.
It was a good reminder. He'd never assumed she was alone, but if he'd gone much farther he might have forgotten. His back was to the ocean. Ordinarily that was a good thing, but considering one of her number was Ursula…
"The Sea Witch!"
And there she was, right on cue, not behind him, but in front of him. She walked out of the cave, but he could hardly focus on her as he watched one tentacle wrap around Belle's neck, instantly turning her face red. In another second, one encircled her waist as well. That was bad. Now not only was Maleficent's spell protecting her, so was Ursula. He felt dread wash over him as he fought to keep himself collected before their eyes, but he couldn't help but feel that he had lost his opportunity. He could have killed Maleficent and whisked Belle away in a flash before the duo knew what had happened. He should have done that. Now he could kill one, but she would still be trapped. He was trying to think of something, but Belle had gone silent as Ursula held her, and every second felt like he was closer to releasing the Gauntlet to them.
"Such a pretty thing! Seems a shame I'll have to crack her pipes!" Ursula taunted in a low, threatening voice.
"Harm one hair on her head…Maleficent burns!" he threatened right back. He was making a bet, a good bet, but a bet all the same. They'd stayed together after he'd brought them together he had to assume the pair meant something to one another. Or should he say the trio…
"Then Ursula will kill your maid and…and where will that leave us?" Cruella questioned, emerging from the darkness with a slow stagger so much different than Belle's powerless one.
"Cruella! Thought I caught a whiff of desperation and gin!" he squealed as if he were happy to see her when really she was the last person on earth he'd ever expected to come into contact with. Frankly, he was shocked to see any of them. He knew they'd survived Bald Mountain, but he'd thought his defenses were good enough he'd never have to endure something like this again. He hated to curse children, but if it weren't for that damn pup…!
"I must say I'm surprised to see you all here. Last time we crossed, it looked like things weren't going your way! And…unless you hand back my maid, they won't be this time either!"
"Shall I get you a step stool so you can look in my eyes when you threaten me?!" Cruella snapped with the look of a tiger about to pounce in her eyes. It was funny, she was the least magic out of the three, if she thought she could scare him, then she had another thing coming. He might have laughed, if Belle wasn't still so clearly struggling.
"I don't need to threaten you, dearie. It took three of you to get this far, and I promise it isn't far enough!"
"Have it your way!" Cruella commented with a small shrug. "Ursula, darling, crush the maid's heart!"
His eyes immediately went to Belle, and he felt a jolt rush through his body. He could see that Cruella wasn't bluffing and Ursula wasn't joking around. Her tentacles tightened over her waist as well as her neck. And Belle…she'd been struggling until now, twisting and turning her wrists as if she could loosen the knots, standing up straight as Ursula forced her to. He'd thought, up until that moment that her face had been red, now knew it was only pink. That color, right there, that was red. Red to purple, it was only a matter of time until it went blue. Blue was bad. After blue came white…and not the pale she usually was. The colors of her face reminded him of just how wrong Cruella had been. Ursula didn't need to crush her heart, just her windpipe.
Strangulation. That could be quick, but not very enjoyable. He should know, he'd done it to a number of his own victims, just as he was doing it now to Maleficent. For Belle to experience it…
Her eyes watched him. First, they were pleading, but he could see her begin to fade out. Soon her vision would bubble and then blacken and then she'd pass out and if the witch kept it up she'd never wake up again. He moved his eyes from her to Ursula to Cruella, hoping to see her watching her, hoping to see a bit of sympathy, to see that she was going to hold off and loosen her grip so she could make him another offer. But he saw none of that. Just determination in their eyes…and nearly nothing in Belle's.
It was up to him. He couldn't summon her away, and he couldn't kill Maleficent. In the time it took to remove the spell from Maleficent and kill Ursula, they'd have Belle again, and this time she'd be weak. They'd planned well, but not as well as him.
He didn't want to hand the Gauntlet over, he didn't want to be perceived as weak to them not even for the few hours he would be. But it was clear to him that he had no choice. Belle had maybe only a few seconds. He had a plan; he just needed to stick to it. He had to trust is magic. By the end of the night, the Gauntlet would be right back in his possession and hopefully, in a few seconds, so would Belle.
He grit his teeth together as he tossed the Gauntlet to Cruella as he released Maleficent from his death grip, giving in to their requests. He looked right away to Belle and immediately saw the Sea Witch loosen her grip on her neck. Her heard a choked gasp come from her, it was small, but enough to make him want to sigh with relief. She was getting air again. That was something.
He turned to the three women. When this was over, and he had the Gauntlet back, they were going to die. They knew him well enough to know that. Why they would even do try to make him angry…
"That was a risky endeavor for an old glove, dearies."
"Well, the risk was worth it…for too long we've lived in a world where the heroes always win!" Ursula declared.
"And the Gauntlet will reveal our enemy's weaknesses, and we will be the victors," Cruella added.
He wanted to roll his eyes. This old thing…that was the argument he'd used with them to get his curse. After he'd left them there for dead, they didn't still think he'd been serious, did they?
"Let her go!" Maleficent commanded before he could ask her.
One second Belle was far from him, struggling with her wrists and her breathing, the next moment Ursula had let her go and shoved her toward the cliff. She stumbled, losing her footing, she would have fallen had he not lunged forward and caught her.
They were clever, her captors. At that moment, when he was too busy getting Belle to stand, that was when Maleficent let her magic swell and carry the three of them away, back to her castle, if he had to guess. That was fine. He'd summon them back. But only once he was sure Belle was safe again.
He'd caught her, but she was still struggling. Her legs were shaking, they were so weak he could feel her faltering. Her hands were still bound and she leaned into him, into the hands that were keeping her propped up, to compensate. And her breathing...it was rough. She was inhaling, it was deep and fast, and if she didn't calm down soon, she was going to pass out from getting too much air.
"Wh-why would you do that?" she questioned, looking at him with bleary eyes. Talking. Her voice was breathless, no doubt her threat would soon swell from where she'd been strangled. She was still in danger, and she needed not to speak until he could heal her properly. "I…I mean with that object you…"
"They won't be able to harm you," he insisted. That was true whether he got the Gauntlet back or not. He was going to take her back home, heal her wounds, see her to sleep, and make sure nothing like this ever happened again. If that meant he needed to kill them, then so be it.
"Why do you care about me?"
Now it was him who didn't breathe. She was staring up at him, looking perhaps the most miserable and pathetic that he'd ever seen her look. The ocean was raging behind him, but for just a second, as he looked back into her gaze, the world went oddly quiet, as if it was waiting for an answer just as she was. Why did he care about her?
"I don't!" he stated, forcing himself to let go of her, though the second she began to stumble again he wanted only to grab her once more. It wasn't because he cared. It was instinct, something gentlemanly still left within him, something that he needed to squash. Promptly. And the idea that he cared about her was one that he needed to crush from her head right now. This hadn't been to save her. It was an experiment. He was just making sure that all his collection was in order. "But if anyone's going to crush your heart…it's gonna be me!"
"But you won't!" she shook her head. He could tell that she'd meant for the words to be nearly as insistent as his were, but instead they'd come out gravely, with only a breath. They'd done damage to her. If he didn't heal her soon then her throat might swell shut. "You won't…"
She made a move suddenly, as if to take a step closer to him, but she lost her footing again, her legs fell out from under her and she would have crashed to the ground if he hadn't reached out and caught her again. She was in bad shape, and she wanted to stand here and discuss his motivation for why he'd done this?! At this rate, he wouldn't need to crush her heart, she'd end up doing it all by herself.
He rolled his eyes and pulled her closer against his chest to stabilize her. "If you don't kill yourself first," he muttered as he let the magic take them home.
So there you have it! Belle's rescue! I'd say "you heard it here first" but frankly we all know you watched if first, probably read this scene over on Moments second, and now your are reading this third. So...you heard it here third. I really tried hard with this not to make it so 100% Belle because I feel like at this stage he'd be resisting that idea. Instead, I tried to keep his focus on the Gauntlet, until of course it really matters and he starts thinking on instinct alone.
Big thank yous to Grace5231973, Jennifer Baratta, and Ysabel for your comments on the last chapter. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one, but really excited to give you the last two chapters for this week. I know the next one is a favorite for at least one of my readers, but the last one explains exactly what he's done to the Gauntlet. I had to really think this one through, but I think you'll like the conclusion to this little science experiment. Peace and Happy Reading!
