The Dark Castle

He walked down to the dungeon to check on his prisoner. Even from here, he could feel her emotions - fear, rage, contempt, and pain.

This should be fun.

Opening the door, he strutted in and gave a wicked smile to his prisoner. "Don't think the pain will get any easier dearie. The way this spell works is simple - the more you resist or lie to me, the more pain you'll feel. Give me what I seek and it will be easier for you."

"And what do you want?"

"Where is Rose Red?"

"I don't know who you're talking about." Immediately she writhered agaony.

"Foolish fairy, I know that you're lying."

She glared at him. "I'll never tell you."

He clapped his hands in twisted delight. "We'll see about that."

"I'd rather die than let you hurt her." She intended on saying more, but a spasm made her catch her breath.

"Glad I won't have to hear you try and lecture me." He snarls at her. "You fairies are all the same - hypcritically pious."

"We're not perfect, but we're nothing like you."

"Please explain to me how you are better than me." He was disgusted with how they superior fairies acted. He had seen them through the centuries and they were all the same - mindless moths obeying their queen and her twisted moral compass.

"We don't go around hurting people with manipulative deals, hoping to gain something from them."

"Ah, but you do!" He twirled his finger to an unheard melody he was hearing in his mind. "You grant wishes and in return you gain favors. Or is it a coincidence that many fairy godmothers are patrongs to a good many rulers in this realm?"

"I'd hardly call people being grateful as currying favors."

He taunted her, "Tell yourself what you need to ease your conscience. We both know that you only help those who can help you, either immediately or in the long run. Think about it - isn't it The Blue Fairy who doles out your assignments? Isn't it she who determines who is worthy and who is not?"

Rumplestiltskin watch her carefully as she took what he said and thought it through. He saw her wide eyed as an epiphany formed, but just as quickly it disappeared and she settled back into her role as Blue's lackey. "We expect no reward, we do this because good people deserve hope." She struggled under the spell. "You, though, you extract what you want from people who are desperate."

"I make fair trades. I give people what they want. If they can't pay they know there will be consequences."

"Steaing babies?" She glaredat hom as if he was the scum of the earth. "I can't imagine any parent knowingly making deal for their child."

"You'd be surprised. People aren't as innocent as you think. Take Rose's grandmother Cora - she willingly offered her child to learn magic."

"No, no mother would do that."

"No proper mother would do such a thing." He corrected her. "But then again Cora wasn't the nuturing type. If it served her purpose, she would've given a dozen children to gain power." Rumple's anger rose within his chest and he gave no resistance. He was justisified in his disgust.

She gave him a forced smile. "Regina wasn't raised by you though."

"Cora found a loophole." He wagged his finger in her face, "She tried to have her cake and eat it too. She didn't anticipate the effect her choices would have on her daughter. In the end, I got what was owed to me."

"And yet you now want more- Cora's grandddaughter."

"Well, technically our original deal stipulated that I was supposed to raise the child as I see fit. With Rose I can get what;s owed to me."

"What would you know about children? You're nothing, but a monster!" She spat on his face.

"That's where you're wrong dearie." Even though she did deserve to hear his story, a fury fueled by the unjust judgement caused him to open up. "It is your dear Blue that knows nothing about love. She took my son away!"

"She would never do such a thing." Her absolute faith in her leader nauseated Rumple in such a way he hadn't expected. He felt compelled to set her starught on the facts.

He wagged his finger in her face. "Oh, but she did. She had the last magcal bean in her possession and she convinced my sweet Bae that using it was the only way to gain happiness." He pulled her hair so she was right besides him. "My son was taken to a land without magic, unable to be protect by me." His heart winced when he omitted the detail of letting him go. He couldn't bear to go down that dark path again. "I will get my son back even if I have to destroy the entire realm to get him."

"So you would destroy countless innocents to get what you want?"

"Nothing in this world is truly innocent!"

"Rose is! She's -"

He finished her naive thought with the cold, hard truth. "She's Regina's daughter and Cora's granddaughter. " He laughed at her. "What do you think her future holds? Happiness and rainbows? Her lineage itself is doomed to darkness."

"No one is born evil."

"Indeed, but it is hard to fight what is in your blood." He walked around her. "Rose belongs to me. And what's more, she is never going to be your ally. Let me have what is mine."

"You're wrong, we all choose our destiny. She must have the chance to decide her own fate."

"Her fate is as good as written."

"No! Thanks to us intervening, she has a chance to be more - to become whom she was meant to be.

"Justify it however you want but she's nothing more than a pawn in The Blue Fairy's game."

"We're protecting Rose. We have her best interest."

"Really? Is that why she was stolen from her parents?" He played with her words. "Please explain to me how allowing her parents and sister to believe she is dead is a service to her? You may not like me, but you can't rationalize causing such pain with the King and Queen."

Adele remained silent.

Delighted, he pressed on, "Have you ever considered that you helped me get Regina? Your meddling allowed her to lose what little hope she had left."

"We're protecting Rose." The fairy relucttantly retorted. He was wearing her down.

He giggled again, truly amused at how that self-righteous fairy has been deluding herself. "Is that how The Blue Fairy is spinning it?"

"It's the truth. She only wants to keep the girl safe."

There, he felt her resolve dip."Not quite buying her lie, I see." He crowed, "Well, at least you're not as blindly devoted to her as the others." He was in her space, merely centimeters from her face. His reptilian eyes stared her down."Is that why you're no longer a fairy? Did you doubt Blue and her lies about fighting for the greater good?"

You care for her?" He started giggling at the thought. A haunting smile comes across his face as he takes in this sliver of a clue. "So this human form of yours was not a punishment after all, but a disguise." His cruel teeth shone as he smiled at his realization. "Are you her maid? Her governess, perhaps." He closely examined her clothes to see if the garb would give an indication of where she was residing. There was nothing unique about what she was wearing.

"Clever fairy, you changed, didn't you?" She was slipping in and out of conciousness; he was goingt o lose her soon. He whispered to her ear. "Just tell me the girl's name and I'll give you a merciful death."

"I'd rather die than let you taint the girl. You're incapable of love."

Rumplestiltskin could sense she was dying. "It's a shame that one of your kind has finally understood love and it's for a pitiful creature destined for darkness."

"Why do you think she will fail?" She asked in her last breath.

Even though she had already passed, he gave the answer. It was the least she deserved. "Because she has a bit of me in her."