Chapter 6: Location for Death

Merida looked utterly bewildered, like what Crystal had spoken was utter gibberish or if she asked the archer to jump off a cliff.

Crystal's heart is pushing against her chest. She can tell the darkness is not happy with what she has just proposed. The image of her father has vanished, but the voices in her head were very prominent. Why the apparition had vanished, she didn't care any longer. She knew it would be hard to kill her… she was immortal now after all, which meant she could still be killed, but her soul would live on forever. Maybe she could be poisoned, like what Hook did to her father, or soul ripping arrows, something along those lines. She remembered Regina telling her that Cora said that if the darkness had no "heir" next in line, it would go on to the next world. If it meant not hurting anybody any longer, she was willing to lay down her life to protect everyone else.

"What?!"

"Did you not hear me? I want you to kill me! An arrow to the heart should do it…Make it quick and the least painful."

Merida just takes a few steps back. She knew she was going to kill the clan leaders for kidnapping her brothers, but they wouldn't be expecting it… while this… girl if she could call her that is asking to be killed. Begging for death instead of mercy or help. Her hands begin to sweat as she grips her bow very tightly, almost to the point of snapping her weapon in half. She had no reason to kill this girl, who actually seemed like a decent being, despite the darkness swirling around inside of her.

"Have ye lost your mind?"

"No… I haven't, but I can't think of any other way to get rid of the darkness within me… Merida, do you know what the Dark One is?"

"I've only heard of it from tales from my father and the occasional traveller."

"Do you know who the current Dark One is?"

"I heard the name Rumpelstiltskin a lot, apparently he's a very powerful imp."

"You're so kind with the nickname, I usually just call him a troll. Well, my father was the Dark One for a long time, centuries and he fathered me because of it."

"Yer, the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin then?"

"I am…"

"Does that mean…?"

"I do have magic, yes, but I've learned to control it."

"Then what was the…?"

"I'm getting to that. So, my father had let the darkness consume him almost completely, blackening his heart and the only way to save him was to remove the darkness from him. However, it had to be contained in a vessel or a host…"

Merida begins to understand. She keeps taking steps away from the girl in fear, her grip becoming more surely on her bow.

"My surrogate sister Emma was going to take the darkness to save the former Evil Queen from becoming the next Dark One, but…"

"Ye took it instead, didn't ya?"

"I couldn't let Emma give into the darkness like that. I've dealt with it all my life and I figured I could control it better, but now I know that's not true."

"So, you want me to kill ya?"

"To destroy the darkness forever, yes. I need to find some other way because if we used the dagger linked to the Dark One and you stabbed me with it, you'd become the next Dark One. And I know you don't want that."

"I most certainly do not. I want to be a good queen to my people. Not some dark monster…" she pauses, realizing she's over-stepped with her impulsive words. "Apologies."

"It's fine," Crystal shrugs. "No one wants to be the Dark One, I certainly don't so I need you to end my life before I end someone else's understood?"

Merida swallows a large lump in her throat, she just can't fathom killing someone without a good reason… then again, the clans kidnapping her brothers wasn't the worst crime in the world either. She shakes the thought from her head and focuses on the task at hand.

"I… I don't think I can do it."

"Why not, you barely know me, you won't have an emotional connection to me and I'm asking for it so it's not murder."

"I…I just don't think I can take another human life."

"I thought you said you were going to kill the clansmen who took your brothers?" Crystal inquired.

"I-I am, but…"

"Do you want to think about it, first?" the daughter of the Dark One suggests. "I do want to say goodbye to my loved ones before it happens, and I can help you locate your brothers without the-wisp."

"Ye can? How?"

"Ever heard of a locator spell?"

…

The two girls sit next to a lake to take a break, having hiked from the Dark One Vault to the place where Crystal needs to go to talk to her family. Along the way, they gather ingredients for Crystal to make a locator potion. She realizes that becoming The Dark One has given her a plethora of knowledge about spells, potions, and other magical artifacts. She knew that she would have to use magic to create the locator spell, but she was going to be dead soon, it wouldn't matter if she used her dark magic to do something good for someone else.

The entire time the voices of the Dark Ones are screaming in her head, insulting her, trying to make her stop this foolish plan… she can't help but feel some satisfaction, even darkness feared something, and it was death. She was suppressing her magic as much as possible to prevent the Darkness from gaining control as it had done at the Dark One vault.

"I hate cloaks," Crystal moans, tearing the hooded part off her back, leaving her in a rather ratted and dilapidated dress. Part of her wants to change her clothes again, but that would require magic and she shouldn't be using it unless she's absolutely needed to. "I just want to be in sweatpants or jeans again."

"Women can wear pants in your world?"

"Yeah, men and women wear them all the time, they're practical and comfortable."

Merida tilts her head to the side. "Your world is soundin' better and better. I wish you could tell me Mum about that, I hate wearin' corsets and skirts."

Crystal smiles. She dips her hands in the lake and washes the sweat from her brow. The coolness of the water seems to refresh her and clear her mind temporarily.

"So what's this locator spell yer going to give to me? Why did we need to collect moss and rocks?"

"Each ingredient is an indication of direction, the moss from the north side of a tree and so on."

She then stands up and begins gathering sticks to make a fire. She places them in a pile and begins making fire the old-fashioned way by rubbing two sticks together.

It would be easier with magic… the voice said.

Ignoring it, Crystal continues to make a fire. It takes a while, but soon there's a small fire going. Now she needs something to put the spell and ingredients in. She spots Merida's canteen on her belt.

"Can I borrow that?" she asks.

"This?" the redhead asks. Crystal nods.

Reluctantly, the archer hands it over. Rumpel's daughter then proceeds to dump the water out of it.

"OY!" Merida barks. "I'm going to need that."

"Sorry Merida, but I need something to hold the potion in…"

She fills it half full of water and then places the canteen over the fire. The Dark One then proceeds to smash the rocks and the ingredients together into tiny pieces. She sprinkles the moss and white stone in. She also had Merida shoot at an owl which was coming out as evening drew near. It scared the creature, causing some feathers to fall off as it took flight. Crystal adds that as well, plus the archer sacrifices one of her arrowheads to be added as well.

"The last thing I need is a drop of blood," she says. "More specifically, if you want to find someone who shares the same blood as the searcher…"

Merida swallows hard, knowing where this is going. She takes the dagger from her belt and pricks her finger. She then lets a drop of blood fall into the makeshift cauldron.

Once this is done, Crystal takes a stick, stirs it three times and watches as the concoction changes to a light blue colour. Satisfied, she hands it to the archer.

"There," she says. "Now just apply a couple of drops to something that belongs to your brothers and it will guide you to them."

"Will this work?" Merida asks, pulling out a sash that could be tied around one's waist. "It belongs to Hamish."

Crystal nods. Merida then rushes forward and hugs the girl, tears forming in her eyes. The daughter of the Dark One is taken aback by the affection but accepts it without further questioning.

"Thank you."

"I'm happy to do a few more good deeds before I die," Crystal says confidently.

Merida swallows hard again. Her mind clouds again with the thought of killing this girl, who again has just assisted her in saving her brothers… she wasn't sure if she could do it.

"Anyways, you can get some sleep. We can do the deed tomorrow. Besides, I want to enjoy one more night of stars before you end it for me…"

"I'm not tired though,"

"You won't do your brothers any good passed out from exhaustion. When's the last time you slept?"

"What month is it?" the redhead asks.

Crystal shoots her a look.

"Fine. We can make camp here. But just until first light."

"You can rest and eat… I'm going to say goodbye to my family."

Merida watches as Crystal walks along the bank of the lake, out of earshot so she can talk to her loved ones in private. Again, she's haunted by seeing an arrow go through this girl's heart… it just wasn't right. This girl, whether she was a witch or not, was too nice to end it like this…

Crystal leans on the bank of the water and sighs heavily. Now she was going to have to use her magic to communicate with her family.

She lets her hand glow a dark purple, she can feel her entire body become charged like she just plugged herself into a battery. The energy flows through her veins and makes her heart race. Her father's apparition was right, she was drinking from the well and she was liking it… a little. It still felt so very wrong and she had to convince herself to make this quick.

She waves her hand over the surface of the lake in a swirling motion. This caused a tiny whirlpool to form, which then lit up with purple magic. The water in the center of the vortex she was creating began to glow with purple, blue and white light. She could feel her tears coming to her eyes, knowing this would be the last time she would be able to see her loved ones. While a face-to-face goodbye was a poor substitute for actual hugs, she knew it was the best she could do considering the circumstances.

Once the pool was glowing consistently, Crystal stuck her face into the middle of it, going into the light. When she opens her eyes, she can see that she's overlooking the dining area of Granny's.

"Time to say goodbye," she sighs, wiping away the tears.