It was no wonder he'd never suspected anything like "The Dark Curse" would take him to Baelfire, information on the damn thing was nearly impossible to find! It took him two years to find a single reference to anything called "The Dark Curse", and even then, it was only a sentence in an introduction to a book on Dark Magic, something that suggested such a thing was a myth and legend. Still, it was something, and considering the fact he'd been about to lose hope and assume that Donna had simply written down some phrase she'd heard while she'd searched without actually finding evidence of such a thing, it was enough to reinvigorate him.
A "myth" the author claimed…then he would look among the myths. For a year, he waded through them, through book after book, library after library, sometimes breaking into houses and stealing books they had, absorbing every bit of information he could when he found it and even then, what he found was still not much.
The Dark Curse, it had been first penned on a scroll that was made of magical parchment. It was a difficult piece of magic, requiring lots of power, but it was also, at its heart, a simple spell. He learned that the cost to enact it would be great, nearly impossible for some individuals. But, if the Curse was done correctly, if everything was sorted and the price was paid, and the ingredients were right, then the Curse had the ability to rip through this or any land, taking everyone and their most precious items to another world, one that was the complete opposite of this one, a realm where magic didn't exist.
It took him a little over three years to put that much together. Three years to come up with a name, a description, a warning…now all he needed was to find the damn thing! He couldn't just put one of his own together, not without getting a magical scroll and as far as he knew those were exclusive to the Fairies hideaway and he knew for a fact there would be no getting in there now. As much as he hated to admit it, the Blue Fairy was a smart little insect, she'd have found the insecurities Donna and Stephen had exploited and made efforts to be certain it could never happen again by now. And as for going there himself, well, he'd tried once, just before sending he dolls to do it for him…the experience hadn't ended well. That only meant that he had to find the original.
The myths he read only left one hint for him. It wasn't with the fairies. Not anymore. They may have had some kind of record of it, which had enabled Donna to find it, but they didn't have it at their Garden, not anymore. The Dark Curse was just that-a Curse of Dark Magic, and creatures who claimed they only practiced blessings of Light Magic wouldn't be able to physically endure having it close to them. It would rot them from the inside out. Pleasant as that image was in his head, even better was the knowledge that they hadn't destroyed it. The magical parchment used to write it upon was sacred to fairies; once the Curse was bound to it there would be no way they could destroy it unless it involved enacting the Curse. Only by casting the Curse would the parchment be weak enough to be torn in two and then reversed.
And so that deduction left him with two solid leads. One, the Curse still existed. Two, it was somewhere in this world. But where?! Obviously, it was guarded. The Wretch knew he was looking for it and had been for over a hundred years, she may not be willing to risk keeping it inside the Gardens, but he doubted she was going to simply bury it in a treasure chest where just anyone would find it. It would have a spell, maybe even several enchantments, that would protect it. But every time he searched for a location where good magic was in excess, it was never what he was looking for. There was something else to this, something else to this puzzle he wasn't mastering. He had to get his hands on The Curse soon, so he could learn it and manipulate it, understand it, and plan for it. He had to do this all so he could get it into the hands of Regina when the time was right!
At eight years old the spell over her home had yet to be broken, but eight was still far too young, even if he was beginning to notice some signs of the girl having abilities, she wasn't aware of them yet. Much to her mother's displeasure, she was far more interested in horses than she was learning about balls and manners and government. But sometimes, when he watched the family together, he could see the seeds of unhappiness growing deeper than just ordinary family quarrels. It seemed that Regina had inherited her mother's ability to do magic when she was angry, ironically enough, that usually only happened around Cora. Henry, he was loathed to admit it, was a doting father. He spoiled the girl, but not to the point she was rotten. Around him, she was sweet and happy, the second her mother took over, every time he saw her scream at the pair of them or insist Regina did something or other, he could see that spark in her eyes that told him someday she would be far more than she was. Someday he'd use that to help her and use it to get his revenge on Cora, without a doubt.
And one day, as he peered into his cauldron and watched a scene play out that he'd already seen in his head, the remembered he'd use another doomed relationship to get what he wanted from her.
There she lay, just as he'd once seen her in a vision, Queen Eva.
He'd been watching all day as maids and mistresses, doctors and doulas, ladies-in-waiting, and midwives had fluttered in and out of her bedroom. It had been an usually cold and bitter Winter. Their Kingdom had a record snowfall. And as the Queen's water had broken, another storm had swept over the Kingdom. The birth had not been easy for the first-time mother, it hadn't been easy for him to watch from his cauldron too if he was entirely honest. He couldn't hear anything, but he'd become quite skilled at knowing what things sounded like in a room just by the reactions of those around the individuals. Truth be told, without magic in the King's home, he could have watched through a mirror which would have allowed him to hear it, but he didn't feel he needed that. If he was reading the situation correctly, every time Eva cried, it was more a scream. He didn't need noise like that in his head.
The servants who held hands and legs were nearly as covered in sweat as she was. Even times of rest had the poor Queen laid back on her pillows crying and shaking her head as her body trembled. But eventually, the faces of worry exploded into joyful smiles. A small flailing bundle was laid on the chest of the Queen before she was cleaned, then she was taken away, swaddled, and placed properly in her mother's arms.
He'd watched content from his tower cauldron as people had come and gone, coming to see mother and child, including her husband Leopold, all before the rather large servant finally ushered them out of the room and left Eva there with the child in her arms for a moment of peace and quiet. It was then that he allowed himself to look in on her through a mirror, to hear the words he knew would be said because of the vision he'd seen when he'd first met Cora.
"There must be three feet of snow out there, your Highness!" the servant by the window stated with a happy smile. "An oddity this time of the year, to be sure, but not this year it seems. Still, now that the little Princess has come, it's stopped. There is nothing but beautiful pristine white, but it all pales in comparison to her. It's as though the gods knew that there was no competition for a more glorious sight."
"Then, we must name her after it!" Eva cooed, looking down at her sleeping daughter with a happy smile. "Mustn't we, my little Princess, my little Snow White."
Someday was coming soon.
Short but obviously sweet and very, very important. Important enough that even though it was short I thought it deserved it's own chapter. As of this chapter Snow White has come into the world. And I think knowing what he does about Regina and Snow and how the future will play out this is a really significant thing for Rumple. He knows that it is the child of Snow White who will break the curse, so after over one-hundred years of not knowing how long it might be, suddenly he has the knowledge that the Savior could be born anywhere from sixteen years to thirty-eight years from this point. That's huge for him. Also, we were able to keep with all the information the show gave us about Snow. We know she was born March 10th (I believe) and that she was named for a great snowstorm. I made sure to keep all of that intact!
Thank you Grace5231973 and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on the last chapter! Happy you liked the wrapping up of Stephen and Donna as well as how he found out about the Curse. Jennifer, don't you worry, Jefferson is coming. He'll have his first appearance shortly. But if you'll hang on a little longer you might start to get a few hints of where he comes from and how Rumple learns about him. All in good time! Peace and Happy Reading!