Once Upon a Midnight: Audrina
Chapter 07: Blood Magic
Wish Realm: The Dark One's Castle, A Short While After Audrina's Curse:
It was a room, enormous and filled with artifacts and trinkets, without doors or windows. A room cut off from the outside and inescapable from the inside, except through magic. It was the perfect depository for rare and dangerous artifacts, numerous of which Audrina recognized on sight. Though her mother had taught her to restrain her use of magic, she had never denied Audrina the opportunity to learn about it.
"Such treasures." She whispered and, sauntering across the room's floor, handled one or two artifacts before placing them back. Her eyes, ranging from bluish to hazel depending on the lighting, observed each object meticulously. It had always fascinated her how many magical objects were recorded to exist, a few of which were rare enough to be considered to not exist.
She had often dreamed as a child of finding them all and studying them. So much of the world and its past could be gleaned from such objects, gleaned and recorded. It had been her secret ambition, one which fueled her thirst for books and knowledge. Standing in this room, surrounded by such rare finds, should have filled her with wonder and fulfillment. Yet she felt nothing.
"Had I known this place was…." She shook her head against the thought and continued forward, silently cataloging what she saw without an ounce of awe. It was, she realized, the price of her karma spell: an inability to feel wonder or awe. Again she shook her head, swatting away the thought like a pestering bee.
As she did so, her eyes caught sight of a small chest, expertly carved and inlaid with runes. Neither of those were what pulled her attention, but rather the magic emanating from it.
"Blood magic." She whispered and lifted it up, curious about its contents. Something sealed with blood magic while also within a window and door-less room had to be especially powerful. Clicking her tongue, she studied it while trying to recollect what she'd read about blood magic, if there was any alternative to breaking it. "What is in you?"
She continued to study the box, flipping it around in her hands as she tried to decipher the runes. Her eyes, darkened by the dim lighting of the room, widened as she ghosted a finger over the box. The sound of it clicking open echoed through the room.
X
Audrina's Palace, Present:
Walls, solid white and unadorned, ceiling translucent and arched so that the night sky was visible, the room felt cold but also beautiful. There was also the hum of magic emanating from the milky stone that made the walls, the same low hum that Rumple heard in the entrance hall.
"Did she craft this entire palace using that morbid masonry?" Rumple scowled, his brown eyes glancing around the room before noting that the floor at least was made from ordinary marble. His lips twitched and his gaze shifted to what few objects filled the large room.
Tables pressed against the far wall, with books scrolls and various knickknacks piled on top; an armoire, large and meticulously crafted from quartz rested across the room from the tables. There was also a large mirror attached to a panel of the north wall, its size and shape identical to the one the Evil Queen had owned. Rumple stared at the mirror, bemused. Unless he was mistaken that was the same mirror, only attached to the wall rather than being free standing. He smirked.
It quickly faded as he glanced towards Audrina, the young woman hadn't hesitated but simply made a beeline towards the only other door. It was a simple thing, though Rumple easily sensed the blood magic that sealed it. His scowl returned, deeper than before.
"I'll just wait here then." He mumbled, not following Audrina further, though his gaze lingered on the door. Its blood magic seal was strong, locking out everyone but Audrina or her blood relatives. Rumple glowered at the door, curiosity filling him. Considering the parallels this realm had with the main realm, the Evil Queen couldn't be Audrina's birth mother. He pursed his lips and shifted his gaze from the door, his brow knitted with thought. "I wonder…."
His lip twitched as did his hand, yet he held back the urge to test out a suspicion he had since first laying eyes on Audrina. This wasn't his realm, and who the woman was or who her real parents were, wasn't his concern. Not even if….though if his suspicion was correct, it could help him with his doppelganger.
Mulling the idea over, Rumple approached the door and placed his palm on it same as Audrina had done. A few moments passed without anything happening and then he heard the scratchy sound of the door as it opened slowly. He tensed and drew in a breath, briefly expecting it to be because Audrina was coming out. Peering into the empty corridor leading to a steep stairway, Rumple felt a mix of emotions. And stepping through the doorway without any tug of resistance from the magic imbuing it, he proved his suspicion right.
"That son of a damn…" Rumple growled, clenching his fist and jaw as he imagined crushing his doppelganger's throat. He scowled at the door, the blood magic imbued in it still strong. "He claims he lost everything: Belle, Bae, and yet Henry's alive, and Audrina is…." Taking in a breath to steady his frustration and justified anger at his wish-realm self, Rumple shook his head and started down the stairs. 'Does he not know or does he just not care? Does Audrina?'
Muttering to himself each step down, he descended the steep stairway and entered a small treasury-armory hybrid room. His brown eyes quickly focused on Audrina leaning against the wall directly across from him. Her relaxed posture and unruffled poise at his arrival, as well as how she carelessly twirled around the Dark One dagger, answered Rumple's second question.
"I wondered how long it would take you." Audrina mumbled, her eyes cold and staring at the dagger she held rather than the man across the room.
"You…knew." Rumple stared at the woman, his gaze livid while his hand twitched with the urge to choke Audrina in place of his doppelganger. He stopped himself however, reminding himself of who else she resembled. "When did you first find out? Before he left? After? Is your karma spell something he conjured up? Some ruse while he takes my place and steals…."
"Shut…." Audrina hissed, teleporting to Rumple's side, dagger brandish against his throat. "...Up. Unless you want me to stab you instead of him, shut up."
Rumple's eyebrows rose, feeling the blade against his throat and seeing the woman who held it up close. Her chin, cheeks, not to mention her eye and hair color, left no doubt in his mind who her real mother was. "...you want to kill him?"
Audrina hesitated and searched Rumple's eyes. "Depends on his answer on whether he knew Snow and Charming were killed by an imposter."
"And why would that matter? Unless he…." Rumple trailed off, recalling parts of his conversation with Wish-Rumple. The doppelganger had claimed to have already gotten his revenge on his realm's Evil Queen. "He tracked down Regina, he's the reason she was executed….your adoptive mother…." Rumple mumbled the last bit, understanding creasing his brow.
"'Adopt…'?" Audrina's eyes narrowed, their vivid hue darkening. "She was my…."
Rumple shook his head. "No. The Evil Queen made herself barren to spite her mother. In my realm and likely this one as well. She wasn't your birth mother."
"You….she…." Audrina glowered, biting viciously down on her bottom lip. Enough to break the skin, the coppery taste of blood leaking onto her tongue. She clenched the dagger's handle tighter, her eyes gleaming angrily. It was an expression Rumple recognized, and he magicked the dagger out of Audrina's hand before she could stab him. Her eyes widened, and she snarled. "You fucking…."
"Language, dearie." Rumple chastised without hesitance, Wish-Rumple's dagger safely in his possession, while Audrina glared at him. "You may not be my daughter, but you are the daughter of this realm's version of me. And that..." He paused to consider what he just said, and to catch Audrina's reaction to it. "All right, I don't know how I feel about that. But you should calm down. Unless you want to make that karma spell of yours backfire even worse."
"I…." Audrina readied a fireball, her eyes livid.
"If you attack with intent to kill, it'll taint your karma, and your karma spell will…" He shook his head, mirthless grin forming on his face as he remembered the wizard who had had a karma spell backfire. "You're not going to like that, dearie."
"I don't…." Audrina muttered, a sudden dizziness rushing through her. She shook her head and shut her eyes, trying to fight it. Her fireball fizzled out just seconds before she stumbled a step or so forward.
"Dearie? Are you all right…?" Rumple's eyes widened as Audrina fell and he quickly magicked her onto a small daybed he conjured. It was then, gazing down at her barely conscious form, that he noticed the telltale signs of sleep-deprivation. He also noted that each time Audrina's eyes closed, they quickly blinked back open. "...what's wrong? You obviously need to, so why don't you just sleep?"
"If I could I would you fu...kin…." Audrina retorted, barely able to enunciate her words. She raised her hand and gestured towards one side of the room before pausing and gesturing towards the other. "There's a vial...a concoction of various...it'll stave off the worst effects….bring it...to me."
Rumple opened his mouth to protest and insist she sleep, when she glared up at him and growled. He cocked an eyebrow when she mumbled something about even a sleeping curse failed to put her under.
"Now bring...that….before the serious...effects of sleep-deprivation kick in."
"Ah...all right." Rumple replied, going to the only table with alchemy ingredients and instruments. He quickly found the vial Audrina meant - it wasn't a potion, but rather a mixture of herbs and stimulants. He shook his head, disapproving of the contents, though he knew they would stave off the worst symptoms of sleep-deprivation as Audrina claimed. He grabbed the vial, and turned to bring it back to Audrina, as he did so he noticed another bottle. This one containing not a concoction, but a deadly poison. "What are you doing with Dreamshade?"
"Wha...Oh, I took it from Prince Neal. He brought it with him." Audrina replied, taking the herbal mixture from Rumple and downing half of it in a gulp. The effect was immediate. Audrina sat up and stretched, her speech no longer slurred.
"What was Prince Neal doing with Dreamshade?"
"I don't know. Maybe to usurp the throne from his nephew? Clearly he didn't keep up with the going on's of the Enchanted Forest the past year." She paused, and then magicked a crystalized heart into her hand. "Speaking of Prince Neal, return this to him. I don't have much need for it."
"Why did you take it then?" Rumple took the heart, curious for the answer.
Audrina shrugged. "He wasn't transformed by the karma spell. I thought perhaps he...I was curious."
Rumple glanced from Audrina to the heart, his eyes alighting with intrigue and a smug smile slowly forming on his face. A smile halted by a furrowed brow and a curious gleam in his eyes. He stared back towards Audrina. "One more question. Where did you get the karma spell you used?"
"My mum. Regina." Audrina answered, her jaw tightening as she noticed Rumple's curious expression. "She raised me, so she is my mum, regardless of what you think."
"That's…." Rumple sighed, not wanting to argue with his wish-version's daughter. "That's not...I….where did Regina get the karma spell then?"
"I...I'm not sure." Audrina chewed on her lip, her own curiosity piqued at the question whose answer she never bothered with. "It was connected to a bracelet mum wore since...since I was a child. It was from some woman who called herself Fiona. Mum said she was a fairy…."
Rumple tensed, his eyes widening a sliver. 'You've got to be kidding me….'
Author's Note: Once Upon a Midnight: Audrina and Once Upon a Midnight: The Star-Crossed fanfics are connected and running concurrent with each other, with the Audrina one set in the Wish-Realm and The Star-Crossed set in Storybrooke.