Chapter 3: Come to the Dark Side
The sounds of whispering can be heard, there's nothing but darkness.
"Crystal… Crystal… Come with us…"
"Leave me alone!" she screams, but it seems like her voice is gone as if the air has gone out of her lungs. Images and flashes of her life come before her eyes and bring her to tears. She sees her life on the streets, her mother's death, the time her heart was broken. She sees a light above her before
"Come to the Dark Side… we're waiting for you…"
"SHUT UP! You don't own me! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
A single tear sheds from her eye. The Dark One's daughter opens her eyes. She's standing in a forest area, on top of some pedestal. She looks below herself, a large mass of dark energy is swirling within the platform. She steps off it. Realizing that she's wearing some kind of ragged gray cloak and nearly trips over it…
"What the hell…!" she goes to use her magic to change her clothes. In the background, she hears whistling but does her best to ignore it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…"
She turns and her heart jumps into her throat. She sees her father, standing within a foot of her, with his ugly lips pursed as he was the one who was whistling. He looks except he looks more grotesque than before. His hair is grungy and stringy, his eyes are at least an inch wider than what she was used to, and his skin is an unusual colour, like sickly or swampy green and it sparkles in the sun like it has gold in it. He's dressed in some dark snakeskin leather vest, with a leather shirt and pants. She'd seen this before and she knew that was his Dark One form, hardly flattering to him.
She gives a small smirk. "So, this is the face that mom saw when I was conceived."
"Now the full Dark One and still has that sense of humour."
"I wonder where I got it from…" she snaps back. "Where am I?"
"Where do you think?"
She looks around, letting her vision take over… she stares at the pedestal and sees all the dark energy radiating from it. Also within it, she can see demonic faces, laughing and chuckling within it.
"The Vault of the Dark One."
"I've taught you well…"
"You've taught me nothing…You're supposed to be in Storybrooke anyways. The last time I saw you, you were in a coma. Consumed by all the darkness."
"Which now resides inside of you…" he chuckles.
"And who's fault is that?" she snaps.
"You took the place of the Saviour."
"Better me than her. She wouldn't be able to handle the darkness… she hasn't lived with it all her life as I have."
"That is true…"
"Why are you here?"
"Why do you think? Don't you find this frightening the manifestation of darkness itself? I'm the voice in your head. The Dark One's powers inside you, inside all the Dark ones. Rumpelstiltskin, your father is but one of the many. Perhaps I can be another... How 'bout Gorgon "The Invincible?"
It then transforms into a giant boar that breathes fire.
Crystal looks shocked at first but then rolls her eyes.
He then transforms back into himself, frowning. "Interesting, that usually scares victims into submission…"
"You underestimate how long I've been exposed to crap like this. Honestly, this is just another day at the office for me. I've had my Dad's voice in my head since the day I was born… Got anything else?"
"You really shouldn't ask that question if you don't want to know the answer to it."
"You're right, cut to the chase, how do I get home?"
"Home? Why would you want to go home?"
"Because it's where I live."
"But you're home… where all Dark Ones live."
"In a dense forest of isolation…" her face falls, realizing what this means.
"Ah, now you're getting it… Now, are you ready to begin?
"Begin what?"
"Well, willing to be the Dark One of course! Think of me as your guide but only till you've learned to embrace your powers."
"I will never embrace the darkness, I've fought with it all my life."
The dark form chuckles. "AH! They all say that! Everyone who sips from this well enjoys the taste too much. The only way to stop is to be stopped. This is the fate of all Dark Ones. You can't just walk away from it."
"Watch me…" she says, angrily.
"Ah, the teenage attitude, I recall that your father found it especially annoying."
"Like you," she snaps.
The dark entity in the form of Rumpelstiltskin is not happy.
"You can't just walk away from… me" it raises its hand.
Crystal feels like she's hit a wall. Something suddenly grasps around her throat, choking the air out of her lungs. She's being pulled backwards, back towards the Dark One Vault.
"Oooh, this is interesting…" it chuckles. "This has never happened before."
"Let me go!" she shrieks, struggling against the force. The powers seem to have the back of her hood. "Let go of my you son of a bitch!"
"You belong here…"
"No! I'll never be like all of you! I'll never hurt the people I love, the people who love me."
"Do you really think they love you? After the way, they've treated you in the past. You're better off alone… in isolation… well not quite alone… Do you remember when your mother took you to a psychiatrist? They diagnosed you with schizophrenia, said you had voices in your head when it was only just one… now… now it really is true."
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screams. The infamous shock wave blasts outwards.