…3:23 p.m. in Storybrooke…
"That was the deal Swan! Henry is your responsibility on the weekends. If it wasn't for the principal calling me earlier this afternoon about Henry's absence today, you would have never known he was gone," Regina accused Emma as they both walked over to Gold's pawnshop.
"Excuse me, but I have a text from our son stating that he was staying with you this weekend. This isn't anyone's fault. Henry tricked us both," claimed Emma as she opened the door to the pawnshop. The bell rung violently as the two mothers entered the shop.
Gold came out from the back of his shop to greet the hostile mothers. Despite their oncoming aggression, he remained calm and collected as he said, "Swan… one day you're going to owe me a new bell." Upon seeing that none of the mothers were in the playful mood, he continued getting straight to the point, "To what do I owe the pleasure of being in this family meeting?"
"Henry," stated Regina, "He's missing."
"Missing? Now that doesn't sound like our Henry at all," Gold stated almost sarcastically. Henry's history of disappearing without parental consent was not an unknown fact. "What did you both say to prompt such an uninformed departure?"
"Cut the crap, Gold. We both know you have that globe-tracker-thingy. I can't locate him. I have tried tracking his cell phone through GPS, but his cell must either be turned off or missing. In either case, that's never a good sign."
Gold immediately walked toward the back of his shop and pulled out the globe-tracker. He brought the item back out to the front and sat it down on the display case in front of the worried mothers. He used it before to find Henry in Neverland and was confident that it would work again, but he wanted to use it as a last resort. The globe required blood magic. "You must be losing your touch in magic to be coming to me for help," Gold said jousting Regina.
"Believe me, I've exhausted every tracking spell you've ever taught me. This is the… last place…" Regina retorted, when she noticed a few items in Gold's shop that belonged to Henry. She noticed a boy's jacket, not kin to Gold's style of wardrobe, along with a couple of school books that had to belong to Henry as well. "How often has Henry been in your shop and why?"
Emma noticed Henry's items in the shop as well and asked, "What's he even doing in your shop to begin with?"
"Is it really so odd for a grandson to spend time with his grandfather? Oh, and uh," Gold chuckled to himself as he pricked his finger and a few droplets of blood fell onto the globe. He explained, "Learning magic… from me."
"What?!" exclaimed both Regina and Emma simultaneously.
"Henry can use magic?" Emma said disbelievingly.
"Are you really all that surprised?" Gold asked, waiting on the swirling bloodstains to finally take shape. "He's actually quite good. Better than you Miss Swan."
"Why are we hearing about this from you?" Regina asked with genuinely perplexed. "Why didn't he come to either one of us about this? I think we're both equally adept at using magic."
"I would beg to differ. He never came to you," Gold said pointing at Emma, "because… well, you don't really like magic and avoid it like it's the plague. And he really wanted to avoid talking to you about it," he said pointing to Regina, "because magic has always complicated your relationship with him."
"You knew all along and you refused to help us?" Emma questioned, irritation ebbed at her words.
"I didn't refuse to help you, I refused to tell you," corrected Gold. He looked down at the globe and it gave inconclusive results. His face furrowed with confusion. He never had that kind of result come from the globe before. He looked back up at the mothers who were eyeing him suspiciously, watching his every move. "I made a deal with him. He promised to come to my shop every day after school so long as I was the one that trained him properly, in exchange I promised to not tell either of you about it. He usually shows up to my shop about this time after school, but since he didn't show… naturally the deal broke, which is why I'm telling you now."
"And what was the price of his learning magic from you?" Regina questioned.
"To teach my grandson magic? Priceless. I just enjoy the show you two ladies put on when trying to work together. It's always a learning experience, isn't it? Don't you just feel closer as a family already? I know I do."
"Just you wait, it'll be your turn all over again," Regina said implying his child with Belle.
"Oh, I'm looking forward to it," he replied gleefully as he reached for his cane. The cane hung just within arm's reach and he brought it down from where it hung against the counter and held onto it dearly. "So now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find my grandson."
Just then, a low rumble shook the ground followed by a disturbing roar that got closer and closer to Main Street.
"Really? What now?" Emma said sarcastically. Screams and shouts could be heard in the distance which caused both Emma and Regina to turn around and look outside the pawn shop.
"What the hell is that?" said Regina as she stepped outside the store to look into the distance.
"What do you suppose…" Emma said turning to talk to Gold, but quickly noticed his absence. "Great."
… …
"Don't dawdle now, it's rude. Sure it's a bit drafty, but I'm working on getting new living arrangements," said Hades to Henry as they continued walking through the Underworld caves. A giant glowing green river filled with souls flowed parallel to the narrow path they were walking on. The dark deity continued down the designated path gabbing quickly and exposing his ferocious teeth, "Yeah, watch your step. I wouldn't fall into that. The Living aren't meant to dip in the Styx river, otherwise you might face an early death. Now where was I? Oh yes! Relocation, yes, I'm thinking somewhere higher, like a mountain. But enough about me, I wanted to thank you. You removed Hercules from this world. You didn't kill him like I kind of hoped, but hey… who's perfect? As a reward, I want to give you a gift."
"I don't want anything from you."
"C'mon, c'mon… there's gotta be something you want. It's a capitalist society, of course you want something. Everyone wants something!" Hades plopped on his throne and continued staring at the strange newcomer curiously, "Well would you look at that shmancy wardrobe. You must not be from around here. What brings you around this here parts?"
Henry refused to respond.
"Don't be shy. I've been watching you for some time and I've noticed you've got some interesting talents. What could Wonderbreath offer that you don't already possess? Hmm," Hades wondered. He speculated some more and found it even more curious that Henry arrived to this world unaccompanied. "You're really brave for coming down here, shorty. Aren't you a bit young to be flying solo, though? Where are your parents?"
"My moms are safe."
"Moms? That was plural, right? Or do mine ears deceive me? Hold on, lemme just…," Hades said removing a piece of brimstone from his ear. "Do you not have a father?"
"He died."
"Ah… ," Hades said. A deal was formulating in his mind, "And Herc-man never mentioned any weaknesses? Bad back… Achilles' heel… what? What?"
"Hercules doesn't have any weaknesses and I don't want anything from you."
"Yeah… you see, that doesn't work for me. He's kind of a huge problem for me because the Fates… well, they still haven't wavered in their prophecy, despite your glorified efforts of removing him from this world. He's still going to ruin my plans which," Hades exhaled a quick anxious breath, "I've been tediously working on for a millennia. And I've come too far to have it all fall apart because of some noble brat. So," Hades stood up from his throne and approached Henry like any confident business man would. He strode over to Henry making sudden movements, speaking quickly, "do me a solid, will ya? And I'll do you one. You rub my back and I'll rub yours. You help me discover Hercules' weakness and I'll revive the thing you desire most. C'mon, whaddya say? Deal?"
Hades threw his hand toward Henry to shake on a deal when they were suddenly interrupted.
"No deal," said Rumplestiltskin on Henry's behalf, popping from out of nowhere. "I know deals, and this… is a poorly constructed one. Come Henry, let's leave."
Rumplestiltskin quickly came over to Henry and brought him close to protect him, cane still in hand.
Hades heaved a heavy sigh of exasperation, "Well now, who are you? I mean seriously, this is ridiculous. What's the point of having a guard dog with three heads, if people are simply going to waltz in here all willy-nilly and show up unexpectedly? I should really just get a new dog. CERBERUS! I'm going to turn you into DOG MEAT!"
Hades beckoned the tri-headed canine forward. The beast came in with heavy thundering feet and its weight rumbled the ground that Rumple and Henry stood on. Henry lost balance from the tremors and was starting to the fall into the river of souls. Rumple dropped his cane to better grip Henry and saved him from the fatal fall into the ghastly river. The cane Rumple used to find Henry was tossed into the path of Cerberus who arrived aggressively toward their location. The beast was so enormous and oblivious that it didn't even flinch as it callously crushed the cane that was in its path, severing the traveling device into a dozen pieces.
Rumple held Henry safe in his arms and looked at his cane with devastation. How were they going to go home now?
"Leaving so soon? Well, before you go, I'm sending you with a parting gift. Call it, a sample of the real thing. If you find what I need to destroy Hercules by tomorrow evening, you'll officially have what you desire back in your life for good. It'll be like he never left."
"Henry what is he talking about?"
"You'll see…" said the evil god mischievously.
Rumple thought frantically on their escape and used the last resort item he told his wife about, what felt like ages ago. Rumple stood behind Henry with arms wrapped securely around him. He took his wedding band and removed it, flipping it around and placing it on backwards. In an instant, Rumplestiltskin and Henry disappeared from the dreadful Underworld and returned home in Storybrooke.
OUATgirl17, Katelynberg, BreathingintheSun, Grace5231973 and Montreat11. Thanks for your reviews guys! I may not respond back right away, but I do eventually. So again, thank you for your patience. I absolutely love the dialogue and discussions we have. You all are just brilliant. Smart cookies, the lot of ya. Mwa!
So what did you think about Hades? The Rumple/Regina/Emma interaction? Tell me your thoughts. Drop a line. See you next chapter. :)