Author's Notes: With thanks again to Snapegirlkmf for Loki's guest appearance
I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives
Nobody's puttin' up a fight
I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell
AC/DC – Hells Bells
"Do you know what to do, Rumple?" DG inquired of him. He nodded.
"My mother's memories passed to me before she died, memories she inherited from her father. You should remember him, cousin. You've encountered him in both your lives."
"The Mystic Man," she murmured.
"He was Alexander Strogoff?"
"You only saw him a few times in your first life, Wyatt."
"And his powers passed to me," Henry spoke up. "He was the East Guardian. Mister Cain, you were meant to be the West but Nicolai Ozopov stood in your place and couldn't cast the spell properly because he hadn't mastered the element of fire yet."
"Well that seal's gonna hold this time. I'm still not that good at my magic but your grandpa is."
"You will be sharing powers with DG since your bond is now complete. Henry, you will share yours with Regina and Emma. Belle, you will be sharing mine. Az and Archie, you two already know what to do. DG, you are the only one of us who has fought this battle before."
"But this time we're taking the fight to Alemedia."
"In Ephesis!?" Az exclaimed.
"Whoa, wait a minute, are you telling me we are going to Hell, literally?" Emma demanded.
"I'm afraid so dearie. The first seal was forged in he mortal realm with an incomplete circle that made it too weak to hold her. If we forge this one in her domain with her powers weakened it can trap her. She will not be able to walk the mortal realm without a vessel. Right now she is able to because of that weak seal," Rumple explained.
"We don't know how many more Dark Ones she has but if we can trap her essence in them, each one that breaks their curse brings us closer to destroying her, putting DG in her place and restoring the Balance," Az added.
"Yeah, we're going to Hell and apparently I'm driving the bus," DG muttered.
"And we're running out of time. We don't know what she's up to so the sooner we do this, the better."
The Evil Queen's Palace
Enchanted Forest Two
(Canon Verse)
Rumplestiltskin was dead and her plans to travel back in time and force him to choose HER to cast his curse had gone up in flames. Zelena screamed in rage and hurled a candelabra at Regina's mirror with her magic.
"Pouting won't solve anything dear," Alemedia scolded, waving her hand and repairing the broken mirror. "You can still travel back in time."
"How? He is the North symbol of wisdom. There's no one else in this wretched realm intelligent enough to replace him!"
"Well then you'll just have to bring him back, now won't you?"
"And how am I supposed to do that? I know the Laws of Magic! You can't bring back the dead!"
"Yes, you can. And you can change the past…with the proper magic of course. The Laws are in place to prevent novices from dabbling in magic they can't understand. But you are no novice, Zelena."
"Why are you helping me?"
I'm not, Mother. I'm helping me. You are the only one that can destroy me and take my throne, but as long as you're under MY curse, you are under MY control.
And Persephone's cursed self believed she was allergic to the one thing that would break her curse…ambrosia, the food and drink of choice for her pantheon.
"Let's just say I admire your wickedness."
"What do I need to do?"
Alemedia gestured and her grandfather's scrolls appeared before her. "This book is written in a language the few people are given the privilege to translate. You'll find the spells you need within it."
The Scrolls of Forbidden Knowledge had been one of Zeus' most prized possessions. Stolen from his own father Cronus, they contained spells on everything, including raising the dead and moving through time. The latter two spells were the ones needed for the goddess's plans to come to fruition. Persephone had stolen them centuries ago at her husband's request and translated them into their own language that the Greek gods would never be able to translate. Hades spoke often of using the spells within them to extract his own revenge against his brother and Demeter only he would never have the pleasure. Alemedia wanted the glory of destroying the Greek pantheon for herself.
Zelena carefully unrolled the scrolls and began to read, smiling evilly. The ingredient for her resurrection spell had just returned to the Enchanted Forest. The others would have to be created but she was up to the task.
She teleported to the Dark Castle, disgusted by the deplorable condition it had been left in by that group of savages that called themselves "The Merry Men" Oh they were merry alright, merrily making pigs of themselves. With a few waves of her hand the castle was once again restored to its former glory. She gestured again and a man appeared in the library bound and gagged.
"Now its time for you to pay your debt to me, Lumiere," she hissed at her prisoner. "Make certain the visitors to this castle find this book. Fail and I'll melt you down."
He nodded sadly.
She placed a book on the shelf, a book similar to the one Rumple had in his collection about the history of the Dark Ones. This book and its Storybrooke duplicate would have altered text of course but Rumple's latest conquest would be none the wiser. She watched under a cloaking spell as Rumple's former maid and son searched the library, finding the book as they were meant to with Lumiere's help and now they had discovered the Vault of the Dark One but the enchanted candle couldn't keep his lies straight and now all her plans would go up in flames….again.
"Rumple didn't sacrifice his life for good, so he could return to be a slave to evil!" Belle insisted. "And this Wicked Witch is evil. We must let him rest or find another way."
"My father is the king of loopholes. I'm sure he'll figure out a way to deal with her."
"What if he can't? Think what she could do, if the Dark One was under her control. We'll find another way to bring him back."
"What, if there is no other way? I can't waste any more time. I need to get back. To hell with the costs!"
"It's what your father told himself when he forged the curse that condemned countless people to misery. Don't make the same mistake he made! Neal, wait!"
Bae pressed the key he'd found in the book into the Vault's lock and screamed in pain when it branded his skin. The bloodline sacrifice taken, the Vault opened, and Rumple rose up from the puddle of black oil seeping out of it, his dagger in his hand.
"Rumple?" Belle asked fearfully.
Bae groaned and collapsed in the snow. Belle hurried over to him and knelt beside him. "Oh Neal, what did you do? Hold on, hold on!"
"Belle….BAE, NO!" Rumple howled and took his son in his arms. Zelena stepped out from her hiding place, smirking.
"Poor Baelfire. Just couldn't learn from his father's mistakes. He wanted so badly to get back to his son. couldn't see the forest for the trees."
"You did this! You tricked him!" Rumple accused, pointing the dagger at her.
"All I did was pass on some vital information. With the help of a friend. And then, your son did the rest."
"You didn't tell him the price!"
"Oops. It's a sin of omission, love. Although, I thought it was rather obvious. A life for a life."
"It's gonna be alright, son."
"I do doubt that."
"Go!" he ordered Belle and drew Bae closer. "I'm not gonna let him go." He held tightly to Bae and the dagger, attempting to teleport but he had not fully regained his powers yet.
"Sorry Rumple. You can't hold on to both."
Once again he would have to choose. His son…or his power…and he would not make the wrong choice this time. The dagger slipped out of his hand.
"Wow, I didn't think you had it in you," Zelena chuckled when she picked up the dagger. Rumple held his son closer and closer until they merged into one body. "You got your son, but you've lost yourself."
"No Rumple. No room! No room! No Rumple," he babbled insanely.
Having his son occupy his body was only a minor setback that would soon be rectified.
"It's done," she informed Alemedia upon their return to the Dark Castle.
"Once they're separated you will have full control over him. Do me proud dear."
"Oh, I will."
She had just done one of two things considered impossible: brought back the dead. Now she faced her greatest challenge; travelling back in time. It would take time, but it would be done!
"Oh, I can just hear Zeus now," Silas said weakly when Alemedia teleported herself outside where he waited.
"Your life force is fading Silas. It's time."
"I'm ready," he murmured.
She reached into his chest and pulled out his heart, the organ as dark as his soul, any traces of humanity eliminated decades ago. His physical body was now a pile of ash that she vanished with her magic. She teleported to Snow White's castle under a cloaking spell, wandering the halls until she found the person, or more appropriately the cricket she was looking for. She waved her hand over it, transforming him from a cricket back to the human he'd been born.
"The darkest of evils shall be reborn from the purest of hearts," she murmured and reached into Archie Hopper's chest, removing his heart. There was only a small dark spot on it from the one great mistake of his life. She held up Silas Finster's rotting heart, merging the two with her magic before she pushed it back into his chest. She vanished as his eyes fluttered open and he sat up, clutching his chest.
"Wh….What's happened to me!" Geppetto!" he cried out.
"Jiminy….Archie?! What's happened? You're human again!"
"I…I don't know….chest hurts….." he panted. "F….Find Blue!"
His terrified friend ran down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him until he reached the Blue Fairy's chambers.
"Something's happened! Jiminy…Archie is human again and he's in terrible pain!" he announced.
"That's not possible! He is unable to take human form when he's back here!" Blue exclaimed and followed him to Archie's room. He was still in bed, barely able to move. Blue waved her wand, attempting to recast her transformation spell but was blasted back.
"I don't understand it….something is preventing me from changing him back!"
"Archie, are you still in pain?"
"It's…it's stopping…." He lay back down and closed his eyes.
"It's that Wicked Witch. It has to be," Geppetto growled.
"But why would she attack me? I've never met her."
"I don't know but we have to do something about her before she hurts anyone else."
"If what Belle told us is true, there's very little we can do as long as Rumplestiltskin is under her control," Blue spoke up. "Archie, I am going to ward this room in case they try again."
"Don't worry about me. The others are in more danger than I am."
Oh, you're wrong about that Archie, he heard a menacing voice taunt. And one day you're going to find out just how much danger you are in.
Geppetto and Blue stayed with him until he fell back to sleep. He was safe again…for now.
Ephesis
The Ozian Hell Realm
11:45 AM Four days after the Final Eclipse
"The Guardian of the North Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Heart of the North Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Gaurdian of the South Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Heart of the South Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Guardian of the East Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!'
"The Hearts of the East Gate summon thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Guardian of the West Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"The Heart of the West Gate summons thee
Alemedia Demonia, appear now before me!"
"I've never been one to shy away from a challenge," Alemedia laughed as she appeared. "Alright then, 'let's get ready to rumble' as they say in that pitiful world you're stuck in."
Do NOT break the circle no matter what happens! Rumple instructed the others.
Just hold my hand Deege. Remember….
Nothing can hurt us if we're together.
So we just stand here? Emma asked.
No. She's going to attack us and we need to be ready, Archie sent.
Alemedia stomped on the floor and a set of vines with thorns shot out of it, wrapping itself around DG and Wyatt. DG pressed her hand down on the vines and water droplets formed on them. Henry sent a blast of air at the wet vines and they turned into ice. Wyatt used his sword to cut them loose while Az and Archie opened a crack in the earth and forced the icy vines into it.
"That the best you can do?" Emma taunted. "You're a goddess."
"I haven't even started yet, little girl."
Almedea transformed into a giant hawk and flew toward Henry. He slammed his staff into the ground and a funnel cloud began to spin toward her that she opened her mouth and swallowed. Emma and Regina shifted into giant eagles and began tearing at the hawk's wings with their claws.
"You hurt our son we shred your ass to pieces, bitch!" Regina snarled.
"Your little bird getting its wings clipped, dearie?" Rumple giggled as a battered Alemedia crashed to the floor. She shifted back to her human form and blasted him away from Belle.
"Rumple!"
"Ah, the Beauty of the Beast, so fond of chipped cups….so why don't you be one!"
A chipped cup now lay where Belle stood. She attempted to shift back but her novice magic was no match for a goddess, even in a weakened state.
Strands of gold thread wrapped themselves around Rumple's arms and limbs and began to pull him in all directions.
"B….Bound….heart….body….and…soul….are…we….I….surrender…my…power….to…thee!" Rumple panted.
Rejuvenated, Belle shifted back into human form.
"Let him GO you BITCH!" Belle screamed.
"Rip them apart!" Alemedia shouted.
A flock of mobat demons flew into the throne room.
"Pongo, demon form…NOW!" Archie commanded.
"Perdy, demon form!" Az ordered.
A portal opened in the wall and the Dalmatians ran into the throne room, shifting into their demon forms and taking flight while DG and Wyatt shifted into their dragon forms.
"Here monkey monkey monkeys," DG taunted, pursing several demons.
"Belle! Fire, fire kills them!" Rumple cried, moaning in pain.
She conjured a fireball and threw it at a demon swooping down on her.
"Okay monekys…let's play," Regina laughed evilly, fireballs in her hands. Emma conjured several of her own while Henry created a twister.
"Moms, send them here, quick!"
Az and Archie shifted into crickets and flew over to where Rumple was suspended, attempting to gnaw through the binds.
"Dammit! They're sold gold!" Archie cursed.
"Leave…me….here….help Belle!" he cried.
"How the hell are you still stuck in this?"
"Binds….created….by Hephaestus….only he or another god …can break them…"
WHACK! His left arm was released from its bond.
"Or a weapon made by the God of Fire. There's always a loophole, darling!" Belle cried triumphantly, holding up a sword once belonging to the god that had been in Rumple's collection of items stolen from the gods and kept in the Dark Castle and his shop.
She sliced through his remaining bonds and handed him the sword.
"I always hated cleaning that room because it was always infested with dust bunnies! I think you did it on purpose."
"Well it's a damned good thing you remembered it, sweetheart! That's it! If we use their weapons, we can subdue her!"
"Please tell me you have a lot of them," Archie begged.
He smirked. "I may have acquired a few and not just from our pantheon. I hope the other gods are feeling charitable today."
"Who cares! We need them!" DG yelled while Alemedia shifted into a giant eel and lashed at Wyatt, forcing him to shift back into human form.
Wyatt!" DG cried as she felt a searing pain seize her body and she fell to the floor beside him.
"The trouble with shapeshifters is that they're not immune to electrical attacks..." the eel cackled with the goddess's voice. "And when he is weakened, so are you now that your bond has been consummated," she added triumphantly.
"You've made your point, now I'm gonna make mine!" Regina growled and shot an arrow from the bow she now held in her hand. It struck the eel between the eyes. It screamed and attempted to slither toward a pool in the center of the room. Henry created a windstorm that started pulling it back toward them.
"To the South the North's strength we send
Against the darkness let it defend!" Az and Archie chanted.
From his place on the floor Wyatt could feel a stronger light seeping into his body. He slowly rose to his feet with his sword in one hand while the other pulled DG to her feet.
"Oh, you bitch," DG snarled as she felt Archie and Az's light surrounding her. "If I had the ability to control electricity, I would fry your fucking ass! I hate snakes!"
"How well did you pay attention in biology class?" Archie asked, a sword in his hand. "What happens when you chop the head off a snake?"
"I didn't do so well in school, but I've killed enough snakes in my time!" Wyatt swung his sword and beheaded it with a single stroke. The head vanished and in its place was a now human Alemedia.
She's making us give each other our strength so we drain. We have to open the prison now! Az sent to Rumple.
We have to contain her first but she's breaking through every damned one of our traps!
Pandora's Box?
It won't work Belle. It's meant to trap others, not her.
"In this prison the darkness we confine
Lock it away forever for no soul to find!" Az, DG, Archie and Wyatt chanted and formed a circle. Henry, Regina, Belle and Emma ran into it.
Rumple gestured and a set of cuffs came up out of the floor, locking themselves around Alemedia's wrists and ankles, forcing the goddess to her knees. Burn marks appeared on her skin.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Those Norse bracelets are bad for the Greek complexion, aren't they….dearie!" he spat.
The goddess groaned and struggled against her bonds, screaming in pain when more burn marks began to appear.
"She fell into a burning ring of fire
She went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The ring of fire
The ring of fire…" he sang.
Loki, you worthless son of a Jotun WHORE! she cursed.
For she knew this weapon had been created by the Trickster god to contain dark mages of his own pantheon but when used on mages in another pantheon the effects were more severe.
It was why she'd stolen them in the first place.
But she'd never expected one of her vessels to use them against her.
"Remind me to send Loki a thank you card, along with an apology for 'borrowing' his cuffs," Rumple chuckled.
He raised his head.
"Earth, air, fire, water, spirit, let our powers combine
To restore the Balance and preserve our bloodline!" he chanted. "Chant with me, all of you. NOW"
Earth, air, fire, water, spirit, let our powers combine
To restore the Balance and preserve our bloodline!"
Alemedia smiled. They'd weakened each other enough fighting her that the attempt to try to bind her would kill them all. Just as she'd planned. A few hours was all she needed.
Asgard
4:00 PM Four days after the Final Eclipse
"Do I look like I mind?" Loki asked while he was viewing the events in Ephesis through a Seeing Globe.
The Guardians were holding their own against the goddess but even in a weakened state they still wouldn't be able to create a prison powerful enough to hold her for they were only demigods. The power of a full god was needed to create an unbreakable prison.
And he owed one of them a debt.
"You helped save my family, Rumplestiltskin Strogoff. Now it is my turn to help you save yours."
He opened his hand and small globe appeared in it.
"It was her meddling that took you from me, my Narvi, Daria, Kyra and sweet Glinda. Now I avenge you!"
A small portal appeared on the wall. He hurled the sphere into it.
As the Sphere of Containment vanished, Loki dusted off his hands and then headed over to the dining hall for dinner. As he entered the long hall with its tapestries and war shields and golden glittering tiles, Odin looked up from his seat at the head of the table. "Loki, you've been busy."
"I have, Father. I needed to settle an old score." he replied, coming to sit down to the left of the king, next to his wife Sigyn.
"We know, darling," Frigga said approvingly. "It is right that you give the Guardians aid in their time of need and bind the evil witch who killed my grandson."
"Fate is inexorable and payback is a bitch, Mother," her son replied. He raised his wine goblet in a toast. "To victory!"
"To victory!"
Ephesis
The Ozian Hell Realm
6:00 PM
"Earth, air, fire, water, spirit, let our powers combine
To restore the Balance and preserve our bloodline!" they all chanted.
"It's not working…" Regina said weakly.
Emma could barely keep her eyes open from her place in the circle.
"Rumple, we…can't…hold on…much longer…" Az mumbled.
"Henry, no Henry wake up, come on!" Archie pleaded, barely awake himself.
"Too tired, wanna sleep."
Belle sagged against Archie. From his place in the center of the circle Rumple could feel his legs starting to give out and a tightness in his chest.
Suddenly a portal opened and a glowing sphere floated out and into his hands.
He gazed down at it, a small smile on his lips.
"In this prison the darkness we confine
Lock her away forever for no soul to find!" he called out and raised the sphere above his head. "I know you're tired but chant with me, dearies!"
"In this prison the darkness we confine
Lock her away forever for no soul to find!" they chanted.
A red mist floated out of Alemedia's chest and into the sphere. Seconds later she vanished and reappeared inside the glass, howling in rage.
"Loki Laufeyson, I curse you, you worthless son of a Jotun whore!"
"I guess my apology was accepted," Rumple giggled when the sphere returned to his hand.
"Did we do it? That bitch locked up?" Emma inquired sleepily.
"We did. With a little help," he murmured and conjured a pedestal, placing the sphere on it. Inside it the goddess continued to scream out her rage, cursing everyone and everything, her words falling on deaf ears. "She will never be free to walk the mortal realm again."
"Great. So how the hell do we get out of Hell?" Emma asked.
"I will take you back," Adora appeared in the throne room.
"Adora….Nimmie…" Wyatt whispered. DG winced.
Adora approached the couple cautiously. She knew her brief indiscretion with her former husband wounded DG deeply, but she'd also been left no other choice in order to save her son.
"We had our moment in time Wyatt but now it's time for us to let go of the past. You've been given another chance. Don't squander it this time. Make the life with Dorothia you were always meant to." She reached out and placed her hand on DG's abdomen. "Marry, preferably before your son is born."
Wyatt gaped at her. "But….but….it was only one time!"
DG giggled. "Didn't you know one time is all it takes, Tin Man? Is it true? Am I having Wyatt's baby?"
"You are, dear and it is a boy."
"Jeb is gonna be in for a shock…I'm gonna be a father again before I'm a grandfather!" Wyatt cried. "But I don't give a damn." He picked DG up, spun her around and kissed her. "We're gonna have a baby, Princess!"
"That means you're gonna have to make an honest woman of me now Tin Man," DG teased.
"And I think it's time we made our marriage official," Archie whispered to Az. She nodded and kissed him softly.
"Rumplestiltskin Strogoff-Gold I do hope YOU plan on marrying ME before our child is born!"
"What kind of man d'ye take me for, dearie! I told ye I planned on marryin ye as soon as this mess was sorted!" Rumple ranted to Belle.
"You need to use that Scottish Highlander accent more often," she said dreamily.
"Oh God…get rooms you guys!" Henry groaned and covered his eyes.
Adora laughed and used Henry's staff to create a portal. "This will take you back to your homes, but you won't be getting married….at least not for a week or so. You're going to need a long rest after the battle you've fought. The Balance has shifted to the light but there are still more battles to be fought. You will know when that time comes."
"And we will be ready," Rumple declared as they all stepped through the portal that took them back to Storybrooke. They collapsed on their beds the moment they arrived at their homes and fell into an exhausted sleep.
Ephesis
The Ozian Hell Realm
"Well daughter, you're in a rather tight spot, aren't you?" Hades taunted when he teleported into her throne room.
"LET ME OUT!" she screamed.
"I can't. I don't have all my powers, remember? Is it done?"
She smiled. "He has been resurrected but we've hit a bit of a snag. He's gone mad and merged his life force with his son's."
"Then they'll have to be separated. He needs to be thinking clearly before Zelena can use him as an ingredient for her time travel spell. The Savior should be able to undo the spell. He'll make her do it. He's too noble to keep on living when he knows his father is the only one powerful enough to try to stop Zelena. The moment she separates them that boy's soul is mine!"
"How do you expect to get your hands on it before Ozmalita does?" Alemedia inquired.
"You're not the only one who can use a vessel to do your bidding."
"You already have him under your control!" she whispered. "How? You're powerless."
"Not as powerless as you think, daughter."
"How did you do it?"
"Why the same way you control yours, with an object!" Hades gestured and the Dark One vault key appeared in his hand.
"The moment he touched that..."
"His soul belonged to me," Hades laughed evilly.
"We have to be careful, Father, Loki is watching us."
"I think we can accomplish what we need to with him being none the wiser, now can we, daughter?"
"I do….now."
"If all goes according to plan Zelena will time travel successfully and the changes she makes in the past will pave the way for you to resurrect Silas."
"And he will destroy the Guardians," she hissed.
In the meantime, the decaying, dark heart that was left of the most powerful Dark One in all the realms would feed on the life force of his brother until it became powerful enough to live again in his body.