Chapter Twenty
"The first thing we have to do is figure out what we're going to do with this," Emma said as she looked at the small, black box and Rumplestiltskin took the small, black box out of her hand.
"I'll handle it, Dearie," he said and she nodded her head.
"Are you alright, Papa?" Bae asked.
"I feel tired, but I'm fine," he said with a small smile. "Is Emma alright?"
"I'm fine," she said.
"How did you do that?" Snow asked.
"I'm not really sure. All I know is that I have my magic and powers back," Rumplestiltskin said.
"Does that mean you're the Dark One again?" Charming asked.
"I don't know."
"Look, until we're sure they're your powers or the Dark One's, I suggest you use no magic for a while," Emma said and Rumplestiltskin nodded his head.
"The next thing we have to do is figure out how we're going to get not only us home, but the children," Charming said as he looked at the frightened children and frowned.
"I thought we were going to use Hook's ship," Regina said.
"Aye, we could, but how? We used the only magic bean we had to get here," Hook said when Tinker Bell walked to him and wrapped her arms around his left arm.
"Do you really think I would only "borrowed" one?" she asked then handed him the magic bean and he laughed, kissing her cheek.
"Let's get out of here," Bae said as they led the children down the path and the clouds moved slowly across the moon.
"That was so cool," Henry said as the blue mist swirled in the enchanted mirror and Belle nodded. "Are you ok?"
Tears of joy rolled down Belle's cheeks as he walked to her then wrapped his arms around her waist and Belle hugged him, kissing the top of his head.
The dock was crowded with parents and family members of the lost children as Belle and Henry stood at the end of the pier and watched for any sign of the Jolly Roger. Henry held onto Roland's hand while Belle held onto Duer and Rose clung tightly to her right leg.
"There!" Henry said when the Jolly Roger appeared and cheers roared from behind them. They watched as the ship came closer then stop and the crew hopped down, tying the ropes to the dock. The gangplank came down when Hook appeared at the top of the gangplank then nodded his head for them to come on board. Henry picked up Rose as they went up the gangplank and Roland smiled, looking at Robin and Regina.
"Mama! Papa!" he shouted as he ran to them and Robin picked him up, holding him in his arms. Roland saw the look on Robin's face when he pouted and looked at Regina. "Why does Papa look mad?"
"He's mad because I took something from Mister Rumple without asking," she said with a pout and Roland folded his arms over his chest.
"That was naughty, Mama," he said.
"I told him I was sorry," she said with sad eyes and Robin softly laughed.
"Did you tell Mister Rumple you were sorry?"
"No, not yet," she said and he looked around, finding Rumplestiltskin hugging Belle then held Duer in his arms.
"He's over there," Roland said as they walked over to Rumplestiltskin, Duer and Belle and Roland tapped Rumplestiltskin's arm. "Mister Rumple, Mama has something to tell you."
"And what is that, Dearie?" Rumplestiltskin asked, looking at Regina.
"I am sorry that I took Pandora's box without asking you," Regina said and his eyes widened, making his eyebrows arch up. "Forgive me?"
"Yes," he said and was surprised when she carefully hugged him so she avoided squishing Duer and Rumplestiltskin hugged her back. Belle, Robin and Roland smiled while they moved back and Rumplestiltskin ruffled the top of Roland's head.
"So what are you going to do with the box?" Regina asked as Rumplestiltskin thought for a few seconds and sighed.
The fog swirled around their feet as Emma, Rumplestiltskin and Regina walked down the path and the air was ice cold. Emma heard the sound of water lapping around them, but couldn't see anything in the fog and Rumplestiltskin held the iron lantern in his hand. He led the way when he stopped and Emma noticed they were standing on a wooden dock. The water churned under their feet as the fog grew thicker and she could just see a curved horn hanging from a gold cord on a wooden peg.
"Ok, where are we?" she whispered and Regina looked at her with a blank look on her face.
"You don't want to know," she said and Emma sighed, rolling her eyes.
Rumplestiltskin removed the curved horn when he held the curved horn up and blew some air into the mouthpiece. A low moaning sound filled the fog as he blew air into the mouthpiece again and the fog seemed to move. Emma's eyes widened when she saw a large mountain across what appeared to be a black lake then something moved closer and she saw it was a large, wooden boat. The ferryman was a tall figure dressed all in black and was silently paddling the large, wooden boat to the dock.
"Ok, I wasn't expecting that," she said when the large, wooden boat stopped at the dock and her eyes widened due to the ferryman being a skeleton.
"May I assist you?" the ferryman asked and Rumplestiltskin handed the curved horn to Regina, who placed the curved horn back on the wooden peg.
"I am returning this," Rumplestiltskin said as he flicked his wrist and the small, black box appeared in his hand. He placed the small, black box in the skeleton's outstretched hand and the skeleton looked at the small, black box.
"There are souls in it."
"Yes, consider it payment for its use," he said and the skeleton nodded its head. They watched the large, wood boat float away as he looked at Emma and Regina then he sighed, nodded his head and they walked into the fog.
"Anyone have any idea why we're here?" Grumpy asked when the doors opened and Snow White, Charming, Emma, Baelfire, Hook, Tinker Bell, Rumplestiltskin and Belle entered the room and Snow White and Charming sat down at the round table.
"Thank you for coming," Snow said as she looked at them and sighed. Rumplestiltskin had told her about his suspicions of there being a traitor among them and it was this traitor who was helping Pan and Tiger Lily. She was shocked when he told her who he thought the traitor was, but she still couldn't bring herself to acknowledge what he said was true and she folded her fingers together, placing her elbows on the table.
"What is this all about?" Granny asked.
"It has come to our attention that there might be a traitor in our ranks," Charming said.
"Gee, I wonder who it is," Grumpy said and looked at Rumplestiltskin.
"I assure you that it's not me," he said, glaring at them.
"Enough," Snow said then sighed. "The person I am talking about has been using us for a very long time. In fact, there is not one person in this room they haven't conned."
"Sounds familiar," Granny said, glaring at Rumplestiltskin.
"That includes Rumplestiltskin," Snow said and stunned looks appeared on their faces.
"Wait a second," Grumpy said. "Who would want to con him? That's insane."
"True," Rumplestiltskin said as he sat down then sat back in the chair.
"What did this person do to you?" Granny asked.
"They caused me to lose my son," he said, looking at Baelfire.
"I thought you abandoned him," Grumpy said.
"That's what you've been told," Bae said then frowned. "What really happened was I wanted to take my father to a place without magic so he would be the way he was before he became the Dark One. Little did I know I was going to get conned after getting the way to send us to that other world. I also didn't know why my father was so afraid to go."
"It's because he's a selfish, egotistical monster," the Blue Fairy growled.
"No, that's not why," Bae said. "It turned out that he had traveled through a portal before. It was when he was a little younger than I was and he had gone through with his father."
"Who's his father?" Granny asked.
"Oddly enough," Rumplestiltskin said. "He is/was Peter Pan."
"Pan's a kid," Grumpy said.
"Not everything is what it appears."
"Ok, if he is your dad, why aren't you in Neverland?" Granny asked.
"He sent me back here."
"Why would he do that?"
"He didn't want me," Rumplestiltskin sighed and Granny saw the sadness in his eyes. She was always good at reading people and what she saw made her heart hurt.
"No one can be that good of an actor," she thought.
"So being rejected once made you leery of going with your own child?" the Blue Fairy asked.
"Yes," Rumplestiltskin said.
"You're such a coward," she said as his eyes went wide and Belle growled.
"He is not a coward! Do you have any idea what he went through after Bea disappeared?" Belle demanded.
"He didn't look so upset when he came to see me," she said and Emma frowned.
"She's lying," she whispered to Baelfire.
"Why did he want to see you?" Grumpy asked.
"I wanted her help to find him," Rumplestiltskin said. "She refused, but did give me a hint on how to go to where he might be."
"Wait, are you saying the Dark Curse was your idea?" Granny asked.
"Not really, but a curse was one course of action."
"So we wouldn't have gone through all this if she had helped you?" Grumpy asked.
"Why would I help him? He's evil!" the Blue Fairy shouted.
"I wasn't always that way," Rumplestiltskin sighed.
"No, you were just a coward!"
"How would you know? True, I had heard about you, but neither my son nor I had met you until after my curse," he said and they looked at her.
"Do we really have to listen to this?" she demanded and Snow White leaned back in the chair.
"Yes, I think we do," Snow said.
"Wait," the Blue Fairy said. "Don't you see what he's doing? He's trying to turn you against the fairies!"
"No, I think he's trying to open our eyes to the dealings of one fairy," Grumpy said. "Face it, Blue. If you hadn't butted in, I would be with the fairy I love."
"No, the idea of dwarves and fairies together is wrong!" she shouted.
"Says who?" Regina walked in the room as they looked at her then at the two figures behind her.
The figure to her left was a tall female with a thin, but muscular build and long black hair cascaded down her back. Her hair was so black that it had blue highlights and elegant pointy ears peeked out from under the hair. Her eyes were orange and catlike and she hand slender hands with long fingers. Her face and body were flawless and she was stunning to look at. Her long sleeve dress was a dark blue silk, cut low in the front, and her shoes were a sparkling gold. Her cape was made of white fur and nearly touched the floor while a gold crown sat neatly on her head.
The figure to her right was a tall male with a thin, but muscular build and long white hair cascaded down his back. His hair had gold highlights and his pointy ears peeked out from under the hair. His face and body were flawless and he was strikingly handsome. A pair of curved horns wrapped around his ears while a gold crown sat on his head and tiny bells hung from gold cords tied to his horns. His white linen shirt showed the muscles of his chest and the long puffy sleeves ended at buttoned cuffs at his wrists. Gray trousers and black leather boots finished his outfit and he looked at them with heavy lidded, cat like yellow eyes.
"Who are they?" Emma whispered and Baelfire shrugged.
"Great Queen Titania and Great King Oberon, it is an honor to see you again," Rumplestiltskin said as he walked closer and knelt down on one knee in front of them.
"We are pleased to see you as well, Wizard," Titania said with a smile and he stood up. "You look different."
"In what way?" he asked as he titled his head to one side and she smiled, running a finger down the bridge of his nose to his chin.
"You are…smoother," she said and Oberon glared at her while arching an eyebrow.
"Someone is jealous," Emma thought as she looked at Oberon and smiled. "But, damn, he's hot."
"What are they doing here?" the Blue Fairy asked and Emma noticed the sound of worry and fear in her voice.
"We were asked to come to hear the accusations against you," Titania said as Rumplestiltskin led her in the room and Snow White got up so Titania could sit down. She nodded her head to Snow White as she sat and placed her hands on the arms of the chair. Oberon walked to her when he stood near the chair and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Any accusations are false," the Blue Fairy said then glared at Rumplestiltskin. "He is trying to turn them against us!"
"And why would he do that?"
"Because he is the Dark One," she growled and Titania softly smiled.
"We know full well who he is, but he hasn't done anything against us."
"He's evil!"
"He wasn't always that way," Titania said and Rumplestiltskin sat on the chair to her right. "He is a good man."
"How did you meet?" Bae asked.
"Once a year, we walk among the mortals to experience life among them. It was a rainy night when we came and found ourselves without food or shelter. We came across a small dwelling and inside was a mortal man and his infant," she said and Baelfire looked at his father.
"You met her when I was a baby?" he asked and Rumplestiltskin nodded.
"We knocked on his door and the mortal let us in after we told him our tale. He fed us and allowed us to use his bed for the night. We protested after we learned that he was lame, but he would not hear a word against it. In the morning, we left, but had left him enough food, wool and wood to last the winter."
"That still doesn't change the fact that he's evil!" the Blue Fairy growled and Titania stood, placing her hands on the table.
"You will keep silent," Titania growled as she locked eyes with her and the Blue Fairy started shaking.