He was an angry man. One that was filled with rage and revenge and a desire to make others hurt just as badly as he felt he'd been hurt sometimes. Baelfire was always his motivation, but sometimes the anger felt like it was just as strong a motivator.
The only good thing he could see regarding what the Charmings had done was that now they were consumed with guilt. In his opinion, highly appropriate guilt, but he knew there was a Kingdom that would probably think otherwise. The pair set out to help everyone they could, save everyone they could save, in an effort to clear their conscience, he assumed. They threw themselves into the mine shaft and helping Cinderella and Thomas, who had announced only a week ago that they were expecting a child. So as they worked on his prison, he did do. He worked on final arrangements, those that he needed to make as well as those that would satisfy some of the gnawing anger he felt in his chest every time he took a breath.
First came what he needed to do. The Trigger to wake him up from the Curse. It was a simple matter, really. One that took a bit of pre-planning as well as one that relied on the future to bring him what he needed. A missing ingredient: a bit of the Dark Magic attached to the Curse. Of course, all this information would have made his job a lot easier if he'd known about it before! But he couldn't change his past, only continue to steer himself in the direction of the future. He had a small space in which he could hide things. So he'd chosen carefully. A bewitched quill, one that could channel magic, transfer spells from one surface into that of the writer. Squid ink, magic on its own, it would act as a battery, give his own magic a bit of a boost when he needed it most. And squid ink was long-lasting. The Seer said it was important that what he used it for would withstand the Curse. He knew that it would. Finally, a bit of parchment. There was nothing special about it, not now. It needed first and foremost to be infused with magic from the Dark Curse in order for his plan to work, and for that…he was trusting the Seer to see to that. It was big detail but a relatively small one in an operation he'd been working on for over one hundred years. He trusted her. She'd see him through.
One night, as everyone but the guards to his future prison slept, he cast a sleeping spell sending them into a deep sleep, and entered his future home. It was nearly complete. The bars had been installed, the cell itself hallowed out a bit more to create more "space", if the wretched thing could be called that. But the crevice he'd found previously was still there. Inside his hiding spot, he slid the parchment, the quill, and the squid ink.
It was done. All was ready for him when the time came…and he knew it was coming.
The women were pregnant, maybe six months. He figured he had about three more months to go before the Curse struck, when a blue jay arrived at his tower window and chirped loud enough to get his attention. Attached to the bird's leg was a note, a small one signed "Princess Ella." He had to read the entire thing before he remembered that "Ella" was Cinderella's true name, despite what the Seer called her. The note was a simple request that he meet her a month from now to discuss the terms of their "agreement." He'd been expecting something like this. After all, they had announced to the Kingdom the coming of a royal child, they wouldn't do that if the time came and they had nothing to show for it. A meeting like this was necessary to trap him and the bluebird…well, that was Snow White's idea, no doubt. He sent word back with the bird that he accepted the meeting both the time and the place, and once it was off, he knew that would be it—his last day.
He knew how men often spent their last days of freedom. They spent them with the things and the people they loved the most. Some went to taverns, while others surrounded themselves with their families. He had no one. And the truth of the matter was the only thing he truly loved in this world, besides Belle's chipped teacup, was his spinning wheels. Perhaps, in a perfect world where he hadn't reacted so poorly, he would have spent these last days with Belle here in the tower. Or, if he had sent her away as he should have, he'd have found her and brought her back or stayed with her. He might have told her how he felt about her, about his plan, about all of his mistakes. But it wasn't possible. So he focused on what he had.
Revenge.
Yes, he knew…he knew that he wanted to be in that cell. The Seer told him he wanted to be in the cell, so he would go, but that didn't mean he wouldn't keep up appearances. If he did nothing in retaliation, they might discover that he wanted to be there, which would lead to questions, and he couldn't have that. It had to look like he'd done something in revenge for locking him away, and at the moment, that was something he wanted so bad he could taste it! It was misdirected, of course. The people he really wanted to kiss were the Blue Fairy and the Apprentice, but this would do. The Seer agreed.
"Separate them," the Seer urged. "Separation will drive the Swan forward."
Who was he to doubt his secret weapon? Especially when her advice made him feel so much better!
He spent the month before his imprisonment spinning and thinking up the perfect plan for those involved. He didn't have to worry about Snow and David; Regina would take care of them. But Cinderella and Thomas were likely not on her radar, and if he didn't do something, then they might wind up together after all. The night before their meeting, he spent it at his workshop table, using his magic to create something truly special and unique. He was the Dark One, after all, he couldn't let the last bit of magic that he spun be ordinary.
It was a nasty trick he was about to play, he knew that, but they were close to casting the Curse. This baby would get him the favor he needed, and he didn't want anyone to be around to help Cinderella when the time came except the Savior. So he crafted something the world had never seen before; he called it a Dislocation Curse. It was a curse that would leave the victim stranded somewhere far away in the realm, a place even he knew not. And he intended to place it on Prince Thomas. It would ensure that he wasn't able to be by his dear Cinderella's side in this world and the next. But with two months to go…he had to be careful about how he did it, especially if he wasn't to have magic when they captured him, which he assumed they'd account for in their plan.
He wove his curse carefully, layer after layer, adding spell after spell. A Confusion Charm, to muddle the victim's mind a bit. A spell for hyperactivity, which would make him seem a bit crazed and unstable to anyone he might meet. A Stripping Potion, one that would tear all his fine things, all his money, right down to the clothes that he wore, leaving him in rags with not a penny to his name. And finally, just for good effect, he added a bit of hair growth tonic to create a beard and long knotted hair. Wherever Prince Thomas ended up, he'd look as though he was a beggar, and he'd act nearly insane. Even after he recovered from the Confusion Charm, what man or woman would ever believe a man like him was a Prince and get him home before the Curse was cast. It was possible, he supposed, if he met the nicest of souls, but after watching Snow and David steal Maleficent's child, he'd take his chance on the odds that the human race in the Enchanted Forest wasn't as wholesome and pure as they wanted to believe.
Next, he turned to how to distribute the curse. He couldn't just throw the potion he'd crafted at Thomas; that was harsh and unlike him. He wanted it to be as mysterious as Cinderella expected him to be. So he came up with another plan and another potion. He linked the Dislocation Curse to the secondary potion and added to both of them a time-delay. The Secondary potion was one that inflicted pain, muscle spasms, to be exact. A small bit of it applied topically to the dress of say Cinderella would have it seeping through her clothes and send her into a small fit of illness. If he could get Prince Thomas to touch the dress in the same place that he'd rubbed the potion it would transfer to him, a small spell of delay would give him a few moments until it all kicked in, but eventually, the curse would take him and all without a wave of his hand. It was brilliant. All he had to do was touch Cinderella and then have Thomas touch her in the same place, and fortunately for him, pregnant women always seemed to have one protruding body part that begged others to touch it.
The night before he met with Cinderella, he snuck into their rooms in their palace. Cinderella wasn't present, the sheets and blankets on her side of the bed were tossed back, and her slippers were missing as though she hadn't been able to sleep and had just gone for a short walk. Thomas, however, slept on through his visit. He felt not a single drop of the potion that he placed over all his joints and dropped into his mouth.
When he left, he was excited for the next day. He couldn't wait to see his handy work at play.
This scene and the next were originally supposed to be one, but it grew too long, and I separated them. I'm aware that makes this chapter less than exciting, but I sort of had fun figuring it out. I think when I first saw this episode, OUAT was still new enough that I chalked the whole "Thomas disappears" thing up to magic. But the more time I've spent with Rumple over the years, the more I watched OUAT and studied the characters for my fictions, the more I wrote this fiction...I came to the conclusion that I didn't like that excuse. Rumple plans everything to a T. He doesn't leave things to chance. I wanted to explore the idea that he was behind Thomas' disappearance, but with him not having magic when the boy goes missing opened the door for me to set up Rumple's "Grand Finale!"
Thank you, Jennifer Baratta, Alarda, and Grace5231973, for your reviews on the last chapter. I really do hope you don't mind what I did with this chapter. Playing around with magic and adding layers to it like this is sort of fun. It's enough to make me think that if I lived in this world, I might have actually enjoyed learning how to make spells and craft potions. If you are ready, then let's move on to His Grand Finale! Peace and Happy Reading!