He'd gotten away with it. That was his conclusion thus far, at least. The Dark Curse had been in his possession for just over two years now and yet…nothing. No trouble from the Apprentice, who still lived in the same house he'd always lived in. No visits from the dastardly Blue Fairy, who he was certain would find him the instant she realized the Curse was gone. And no unfortunate encounters with the three women that he had used to help him get it. They'd lived, sadly. He'd felt certain that they would be destroyed by that Chernabog, or that at least one of them would be, but he'd later discovered all had miraculously survived. In fact, all were still in the Enchanted Forest, a fact which shocked him to no end. Why Cruella hadn't tried harder to find her way home was a mystery to him, but he didn't really care. Ever since that day, he'd had other things to worry about. And worry he did.
Sometimes he found himself thinking that it might have been better before he had the Curse in his possession. Over the last two years, he'd come to the conclusion that it had been just as protected on Bald Mountain as it was in his tower. He might not have had the chance to examine it then, but now that he had it he felt antsy. He was always riddled with anxiety and stress and especially desire. He wanted to use it. From the first moment he'd held it, some part of him had wanted to take it to Regina and get her to cast it! For half a second he thought that he might be able to. When he'd met her that night in his castle it was clear she was angry, quite obviously so with Snow White. She'd had a desire that night to see the Princess dead, but he'd had to remind himself that was one of the reasons it wouldn't work. He didn't want her to have Snow White die, she needed to want Snow White to suffer. Long ago she had wanted her to suffer, but he needed more than "want". Regina had to need to make her suffer. It had to be a potent need, undeniable, so much more than what it was now. It had to be overwhelming. Overwhelming enough to sentence an entire realm to the same fate Snow had. Overwhelming enough to kill her father.
He was right, just like he'd always assumed. The Curse did require a heart. And for this powerful a curse it would extract a great price. It would take the heart of the person most beloved by the caster. That was a good thing for him. It meant that no matter how tempted he was to cast it, he couldn't, as the person he loved most was out of reach. But it was bad news for Regina's father. One day, when that hate of hers continued to grow until it was all-consuming, his death would seem like a small sacrifice, naught but a step on the path to getting everything she ever wanted. If he tried to convince her to do it now, it would backfire. She'd be so insulted and upset by just the situation that she'd probably never speak to him.
The time wasn't right. And he knew it because the Seer took great pleasure in reminding him over and over again that the timing wasn't right yet. He could, if he wanted to, find someone to cast it now, but what good would it do if there was no Savior? No one to break his Curse? He'd now examined the Curse top to bottom. He knew how strong it was and what it did was no longer theory or speculation. It was designed to take him, all of those the caster chose, to another land, one without magic. It would erase memories, torment the heroes of this land, render everyone magic and happy ending free for as long as it endured. Time would stop. They would cease to age. The outside world would be aware of their existence but only just, only those that needed to know about them. All others would feel a compulsion not to come near the borders of whatever the caster created. They would be part of that world and isolated from it at the same time. That was why he needed to be able to break that Curse. Things could go on there forever without someone to help them out of that mess. He needed the child of Snow White and Prince James, the Swan, the Savior. But for now, she wasn't even a twinkle in her parent's eyes. Not yet. And from the looks of things between Regina and Snow, and the number of blonde, brunette, and red-headed women the False Prince entertained in his room each night, the girl wasn't to be born for years yet. Years…but not decades. Snow White was of age to deliver a child. Women could only bear children for so long without magical assistance. It wouldn't be long before those years were gone. Sometime in the next ten years, this was bound to happen!
But that didn't take away the temptation. The nights were the hardest part. When he was lonely, when spinning was no longer sufficient, when he wondered where Bae was and the sort of man he had become...it made the waiting damn near intolerable.
So he distracted himself. In these last two years, he'd come up with new ways to keep himself busy and distracted, anything to keep from counting the days and breaking down and finding someone else to cast the Curse. Oh, he did what he needed to do. He continued to see Regina whenever he could. After a time of letting her work on her own, with the Curse imminent, he'd been slipping back into her life, pressing himself closer to be sure that she was prepared magically and mentally for what was coming. She hated it and had begun to rebel against him, trying to outsmart and trick him in an effort to prove she was the better sorcereress. She didn't understand that wasn't possible, but he let her have her fun. It was no harm to him.
And in the meantime, there were always deals to be made. Deals kept him busy. Useless as they were. At least they were entertaining.
There was a girl who wanted to marry the prince that was in love with her sister. He arranged for it to happen, but also watched as the marriage fell apart. He couldn't make someone fall in love, and despite the wedding, the prince went on loving the sister and not her.
There was the farmer who wanted a cursed apple tree, one which would grow poisoned apples so that he might be able to cause his neighbor to die and therefore acquire their land. He found the rare seed to create such a fruit but not being one of magical blood and the tree being made of strong magic that needed special tending, most of the fruit had died before maturing. The few apples that survived were sold, but they didn't make the farmer enough to save his own property. In the end, they lost their farm to the neighbors they'd hoped to poison, and somewhere out there in the world there were five healthy poisoned apples just waiting to be bit into.
There was King Midas, a ruler in a Kingdom neighboring Regina's, his Kingdom had been going poor when suddenly he'd been struck by a terrible curse, or so he thought. King Midas was, in fact, a descendant of the King who owned the castle of gold that he'd visited just after he'd become the Dark One. The previous Dark Ones had always told him that they had never taken away that king's ability to turn items to gold, merely hidden it away somewhere in his bloodline, where it would one day rear its ugly head. The head had finally reared. And in exchange for some very useful information, he crafted a glove for the offending limb so that his dear daughter Princess Abigail might not suffer the same fate as his ancestor's daughter. As for the information he'd learned...it was all about the daughter.
Abigail was a key player, or at least she was going to be. The second that he met the King, the Seer began to whisper in his head about Abigail and the connection she shared, or one day would with Prince Charming. It was all very convoluted and difficult to sort through. The Seer showed him vision after vision of an unhappy Prince Charming by the side of an equally unhappy Princess Abigail. They were engaged. It would be the catalyst for Prince Charming to seek out Snow White. The only problem was that at the moment George's Kingdom had no connection at all that he could see with Midas's. There was no reason for two perfectly happy royals to unhappily lash themselves together. The Seer's appearance made one thing clear about it: he'd have to do something. So he was working on it. He had an idea that he was prepared to put in place whenever Regina tired of chasing her step-daughter around her Kingdom. But until that day, it was a moot point.
But his favorite of all the deals he made, by far, was the fun brought on by a pompous King, who, of all things, demanded clothes. With all his riches, the King claimed that he'd never found clothes that were good enough for him, or so the King had thought anyway.
"I deserve the best! When I look in the mirror, I want to see my riches, see the greatest clothes anyone could ever wear! I want there to be no doubt exactly who I am."
Pompous Ass. He'd smiled as he'd made his deal and cast his spell. He was going to enjoy watching it. With one spell, he tricked the King, altered his eyesight. Now when he looked at himself or in the mirror, what he saw was a lie. His eyes and the mirror showed him the most beautiful garments he'd ever seen in his life. But all he was actually wearing was nothing. He walked about naked as a lark, striding as the people laughed at him. It would take him a while to figure out what had happened, if he managed to figure it out. The spell would wear off in a few days time, long enough for him to learn his lesson. And he'd gotten a wonderful new wardrobe out of the deal as his price had been all the King's former clothes. New pants, new boots, beautiful silk shirts, and several vests as well as a couple of new jackets made out of alligator skin. The collars were high, the clothing added layer after layer to him, but he liked it. When he left the castle, he felt protected and guarded, as if he was wearing a costume. He felt safe. And once he was finally home, he was free to shed his jacket, his new skin, and make himself as comfortable as possible. Which would never be true comfort, at least not until his Curse was cast.
He kept busy, taking on each new task given to him, damn near rejoicing every time he felt a summons or a heard a call.
Or every time a bird flew into his little tower...
He jumped suddenly when this one appeared. He'd been so caught up in watching Snow White hide from some of Regina's guards that he hadn't anticipated the arrival of the little dove that flew in his window, swooped down over his head before landing on the table in front of him. It cooed and held out its leg so that he could see the scroll, which had been carefully fixed to it. Another request, he hoped delicately freeing the bird of its burden so that it could soar once more out the window and back to wherever home was. And where was home? He carefully unfurled the scroll to its full size, used a bit of magic to restore it to what it was before it's long journey had begun, and checked first and foremost the signature at the bottom, just to see where it came from. He liked to have the upper hand in all things, even if the individual wasn't in the room yet and it was just in letter form.
A wide smile spread over his face as he saw the signature and tiny stamp at the bottom.
"Well, well, well…it is about time Your Majesty," he muttered as he sauntered over to his fireplace while reading:
Dark One, Many years ago, you helped to rid my daughter of her ailments, though I disagreed with your methods of magic and the price extracted I cannot deny its effectiveness. Before you departed, you offered us help in conquering our problem with the ogres and I informed you that the help was not necessary. However, recently, things have changed. Our Kingdom is on the brink of collapse and devastation if something is not done to control the creatures and push them back. In exchange for your help, we are willing to offer you gold and jewels. My council meets in one week to prepare a strategy. I would be most gracious if we could arrange a meeting prior to which we might discuss options. Faithfully, your servant, King Maurice.
He let out a giggle at the conclusion and propped his feet up on the footrest. His heart jumped and whirled with entertainment. The letter had been perfect in every way.
The haughtiness of the King shone through in his wording. If he closed his eyes, he could practically see quills snapping in the King's hands as he struggled to write phrases that were neither truth nor lie, cordial but controlling. How had he known? He'd never seen the day that the King took him up on his offer, not from the Seer at least, but in a way, he had always known that it was bound to come up. After all, the girl was important in some way, that much the Seer had told him. The King's involvement was questionable, but there was never a doubt in his mind that one day Belle would come back into play. It seemed that day had finally arrived. He wasn't the least bit surprised that it was through her father. But, all things considering, from their previous encounter and the letter he held in his hand now, he could see that the King's patience for him was waning. He could chase the ogres away at a price that was reasonable, keep the King happy, keep the daughter a bit closer to him so that when he learned what her role was in the future he was a friendly face. But there were so many other ways to handle this situation than kowtowing to the King.
With a snap of his fingers, the fireplace beside him burst to life. He crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it in, where it erupted in flames.
He knew what he was going to do. The King wasn't the important one in this equation; the Princess was. And he'd seen enough of her in his cauldron and crystal ball since that day he'd cured her to know her type of character, or at least suspect. Perhaps it was time to test that theory by cutting out the middle man.
He let out a gasp as the Seer suddenly spoke. From deep with the recesses of his mind, he heard her whisper, "This is the beginning…"
Welcome to the sixth section of The Dark Curse, a section I have lovingly titled The Beauty and the Beast Section. I know that's going to get a lot of people excited all on its own, but let's try this on for size: The Beauty and the Beast Section is the longest section in this fiction. Now, to be clear, it may be the Beauty and the Beast section but the length of this section is only in part because of Belle. Yes, I had to fit everything that happens in Known and Unknown into this section which was a chore all on its own, but the truth is that this is the part in the timeline where the rubber really starts to hit the road. Aside from all the Rumbelle, this section contains major flashbacks and events from every season, including season 7, as well as sets up certain things for every Moments fiction from Known and Unknown onward. This section sees a visit from Emma and Hook, Rumple's trip to Camelot for the Gauntlet, Jekyll and Hyde, the precursor to Rumple and the prophecy in season 7, and all that is in addition to Belle's chapters. The Dark Curse in the last section might be the most important, but this section is probably the most detail-oriented. Everything had to be just right for it. And the result...it's long. It's going to be a long ride, but I'm in if you're in!
Thank you Grace5231973, Alarda, and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews. As you can see we begin the Beauty and the Beast Section with sort of an introductory chapter. It was important to me that we do that because if you read Moments Lost you know there is some time between Belle in Arendelle (which we now know occurred at the same time Rumple was fetching the Curse) and when she finally convinces her father to write to Rumple. So I wanted to include a bit of waiting in this chapter. And then, of course, up next we have...Peace and Happy Reading.