The Dark Backward

Chapter Seven

Outside of the time loop, down within Regina's vault…

After Gold finished speaking with the Author, then hid him away where the heroes wouldn't be able to find him, he returned to the Queen's vault where Regina was bound with her wrists locked in magical cuffs and still unconscious after she had been knocked out by Maleficent once she, Gold, and Cruella had discovered her deception. The Dark One stood in front of her while he waited for her to come around all the way so they could talk, and he could move on to the next part of his plan.

When Regina finally came to, she became startled upon seeing him standing in front of her and immediately began to struggle against the shackles around her wrists until Gold spoke snidely saying, "Your hands are tied, I'm afraid. No more magic for you today."

She glared up at him as she sat up against the wall beneath her magic mirror and then replied coldly, "So now I'm your prisoner."

"You and the Author," he responded. "Well, actually, he had the good sense to join the team, whereas you… You backed the wrong one."

"What about everything you said to me?" Regina asked him sternly. "You wanted me to find my happiness."

Mr. Gold took a few steps further away from her until he turned around to face her again while he answered, "Well, that's true. Just not at my expense. You see, the affection I have for you, well… There are limits."

The Queen darkly questioned him again, "What happened to you?"

"I lost everything," the Dark One replied, then continued by making a threat against her as he pulled a yellow sticky note from his coat pocket. "Just as you will if you don't do as I say. I found this in your pocket. Telephone number registered to a Robin of Locksley."

"Give that back," she crossly stated as she stood to face off against him.

Gold looked between the piece of paper and his old student as he cruelly responded, "I'm guessing you have this number because you're worried about poor Robin Hood out there in the cold, harsh world. And so you should be."

"What do you know that I don't?" Regina then asked him in concern for the man she loved. "What happened to Robin?"

"Ask him yourself," he answered once he pulled out his cell phone and made the shackles around her wrists vanish so she could do like he wanted, then handed his phone over. "Call."

The Queen stared down at the phone in her hands, then took the sticky note with Robin's number from him and apprehensively made the call. A part of her was excited to hear Robin's voice, although she was also afraid to. She didn't know what to expect from him and when the woman Regina believed was his wife answered on the other end of the call, the last thing she expected was to learn that Marian was actually her sister, Zelena, whom she believed was long dead.

After the two sisters finished talking when the Wicked Witch finally hung up, Regina glared up at Gold again as she uttered coldly, "You knew."

The villain still standing before her cruelly replied, "And that's why you will do everything I ask. Because one phone call from me and your beloved dies at the hands of your sister."

"She murdered your son!" Regina then shouted at him in anger.

"Well, Zelena and I have come to… an understanding," Gold responded snidely once more. "And now you and I have an understanding as well."

His prisoner scoffed, then he continued, "Regina… you are vital to my plan to turn the Savior towards darkness."

The Queen answered him darkly, "You made me a monster. But I won't let you do the same to Emma."

The Dark One stepped closer to her again and reached out to take his phone back, then he replied, "So you've made your choice, have you? You're choosing the Savior over your beloved Robin Hood? Is that your final answer?"

"Well… I'm afraid you've backed the wrong horse then… so to speak," he then said again when she just continued to glare up at him until Regina lowered her eyes to stare ahead of her out of disbelief and in despair once it sank in how much danger Robin was in. "I'm afraid it's a little too late to protect Miss. Swan from the darkness that's now in her heart. You see… it appears Maleficent has found the right push needed to turn her heart dark after all. It was a happy accident, only I'll have to wait until Emma and her find their way back from the Dark Backward before I can distract the blood needed so the Author can write us villains our happy endings."

"What are you talking about?" Regina questioned him worryingly when Gold mentioned Emma had disappeared to what sounded to her like another realm, and that she may have lost her way. "What the hell have you done?"

The villain smiled coldly and then responded, "I only took advantage of a situation she and Maleficent have brought upon themselves. They're trapped where they're going to have a very difficult time trying to get back from. I don't doubt they will, but they'll be gone at least long enough for me to talk to you and to the Author so I can begin to get what I want. Oh… and in case you actually care, I'm afraid Captain Hook is dead. Not at my hand of course, though I certainly wish it had been. His death is the beginning of the Savior's downfall."

It was then that he received a message over his phone from Belle and after he finished reading it, Gold looked back at the Queen once more as he spoke again saying, "I'm afraid I must leave you now. I've some other business to attend to. Why don't you wait here the rest of the night and think over what it is we've discussed. You'll be free to leave come morning. Good night, Your Majesty."

And with that said, Gold waved his hand and vanished from the Queen' vault within his smoke to teleport himself back into town outside of Granny's Diner where his wife had asked him to meet her. As he peered in through the window, he saw Belle sitting in one of the booths alone, not knowing that his grandson, the Green Fairy, a dwarf, and his wife's new friend, the thief from Wonderland, were all hiding in wait for him to arrive.

"Belle… is everything all right?" he asked the beauty when he came walking over to the table from behind her, as she immediately looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "What's wrong? I got your message that you were afraid."

"I'm sorry for bringing you here under false pretenses, Rumple, but… we were actually hoping to talk to you about Emma, Hook, and Regina," his wife answered nervously once he was sitting down across from her, and started to reach out to take her hand until she quickly pulled away from him.

The Dark One looked at her in confusion as he questioned, "We?"

It was then that Henry and their friends rejoined Belle after they walked out from Granny's kitchen, as Will retorted curtly, "Yeah, mate… 'we'."

"We're here for Belle, and because my moms and Hook are all missing, along with Maleficent," Henry continued worryingly once he sat beside his grandmother, while the others sat down at the table beside them. "Grandpa, Tink, and Leroy all saw Mom, Hook, and Maleficent being pulled into a portal that opened up as soon as they arrived to try to help my mom save Killian from that sorceress. And my other mom… she's just missing. We were hoping you knew why."

"You may be my grandson, Henry, but what makes you think I would actually help you find either of your mothers and that pirate since you've all turned against me?" Gold snidely replied, as he glared between the boy and the others.

Grumpy scoffed, then he curtly responded, "You're obviously a bit confused, Gold. In case you can't recall, you were the one who turned against us first when you helped the Snow Queen to try to destroy us all with her mirror curse."

Tinker Bell cut in as she added, "Not to mention you coming back here with the Queens of Darkness so the four of you could try again after you failed the first time."

"I'm doing what I have to do to protect myself and my wife from the likes of you," the villain answered darkly, then stood up again to leave until Belle reached out to grab his hand and looked up into his eyes pleadingly.

"Please, Rumple… if you know what's happened to Emma and Killian, or if you know where Regina is, I'm asking you to tell us," Belle replied to him. "Please. If you still care about me at all, you'll do me this one favor. And if you are behind their disappearances, please stop whatever it is you're doing and help us find them. For me, Rumple."

The Dark One sighed in frustration, then he lied when he responded, "I can't tell you where Regina is because I haven't seen her. Not since much earlier this morning and since then I was told she was in contact with Henry."

The teenager looked at him coldly as he answered, "You mean since you, Maleficent, and Cruella dragged Mom into helping you get the page from the Author's book after Maleficent put everyone to sleep?"

"That's right," Gold stated. "As for whatever happened to Emma, Hook, and Maleficent… I can't say either. But I will see what I can find out. I don't suppose you can describe the look of this portal… since it wasn't opened by any magic bean?"

"It definitely wasn't a normal portal," Tinker Bell replied curtly, then she handed him a napkin on which she had drawn a sketch of the portal's design she, David, and Leroy had seen just as their friends and the villainess were pulled through it. "A hole didn't open up in the ground anywhere around them, and it wasn't a golden ring like I've seen portals appear in other realms through my many travels. This portal looked more like a glowing flower in design."

The Dark One looked at the Green Fairy in surprise and then responded, "I'm quite impressed by your detailed description. And this sketch ought to help if there's anything I can find out for you. Don't worry about Regina. I'm sure she'll show up again soon, perfectly safe and unharmed. Now, if you'll excuse me… I have to go. I have things to do."

Once he walked out of the diner, Will kept his eyes on the door as he said curtly, "I bet he does. None of which include helping us find out what's happened to our friends."

"I agree with you," Henry answered worryingly, only feeling his concern for his moms and Killian heighten since they've talked with Gold. "I don't need Mom's superpower to know that he's lying about something."

"We'll find them, Henry," Tink whispered to him assuredly, as she gently reached out to take the boy's hand in her own. "They're going to be fine. You'll see."