Chapter Seventeen: Magic?
The nights were usually quiet otherwise, and Baelfire managed to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Rumpelstiltskin only slept for a few hours near his son before Belle was shaking him to wake up.
"Someone wants you," Belle said, yawning as well. It was only eight in the morning. Rumpelstiltskin woke up, seeing Doc, so he got up and walked over, however he found that it wasn't Doc who wanted to speak with him.
They went into Ruby's room where she seemed awake and very much alive. Jefferson and Grumpy were in there too.
"Rumpelstiltskin," Ruby addressed. "We think that Regina has gone deeper into the forrest to create darker magic. What should we do?" He also knew that she was wondering about that blood he made her collect in exchange for the progressive healing magic which would now be forever embedded in her wolf form. As for now, she was still a wolf, wanting to heal before changing completely.
"The blood is useless to me as it is now," Mr. Gold told them. "But, I wanted it for an enchantment I could have used to bring Regina down myself. However, that is no longer possible."
"And why not?" Grumpy demanded, leering at the pawn broker.
"Because I no longer possess magic!" he told them, making everyone grow quickly silent. That wasn't good.
"Now what?" Jefferson sighed. "We have nothing except my hat to go up against her! Wait that's it. Rumpel, travel back in time, get anything you want that has magic in it, but you have to tell me the exact time and place to get it from..."
Rumpelstiltskin thought long and hard about this, thinking about which potion to grab out of his collection after he'd bottled love. However, he shook his head.
"I can't do that," he said, thinking of Baelfire and how he promised him no magic. "I promised my son I would no longer use magic, and since I do not have it, I shall keep it as such."
"Is there anyone else who could do this, besides you?" Ruby asked, leering at him.
This was their only chance to screw Regina up for good and he was blowing it away, but he had to. Using magic now would have told Baelfire that he'd learned nothing. Magic had consumed him, but no matter how tempting it was to reach into the hatter's hat, Gold restrained himself.
"Her blood is the only thing that can strip her of her powers, but without my own magic, the magic that was killing my own son..." Mr. Gold shook his head. "I can't defeat her."
"PAPA!"
At the sound of Bae's voice, Rumpel scurried out of the room without another thought. Doc's voice sounded like he was just trying to keep Bae calm.
When Mr. Gold came into the room, he saw Baelfire looking very scared, though it was obvious as to why.
Around Bae's hand emitted a purple glow.
"What is that?" Bae asked, horrified of himself.
"Calm down, Son," Doc said, holding him back. "It's nothing...calm down."
"Nothing! Papa, what is that?" Bae asked, slowing his breath a little just at the sight of Rumpelstiltskin.
"Bae...that's magic..." Rumpel breathed, unable to believe the sight before his own eyes. "You have magic Bae...looks just like mine."
Bae's eyes scanned the room, and his breath seemed to slow significantly after he found out what it was. However, he was not happy in the slightest.
"Papa, how could this happen? Why do I have magic?" Bae asked, still panicking. Rumpelstiltskin drew the dagger from his coat pocket, finding that his name was erased...
The dagger was blank.
"I don't know...not even your name is on the dagger." Rumpel held out the knife to reveal that it was just an ordinary blade it seemed. He looked at his son, knowing that he must be scared out of his mind, not to mention scarred literally for life.
"Bae, it's all right," Rumpelstiltskin said. "There's nothing I can do to take it away, but you have to listen to me. Bae, you have to trust me."
"I trust you, Papa," Bae replied. "More than anyone."
"Okay, you need to calm yourself. This magic is very powerful and if your emotions get the best of you, anything can happen, all right? So take a few deep breaths, Bae. I'm going to help you as best as I can. I'm going to protect you."
Bae knew that if he really did possess his father's magic, than only his father could help him learn how to use it and most importantly, control it. He found that as long as breathed, everything seemed to be fine. Closing his eyes, he listened as Rumpelstiltskin told him vital information.
"I'm going to ask you to do something for me, Bae. You have to get used to the feeling of magic. It will not bother you in everyday activities. Magic only comes if you conjure it, all right? Now, I want you to focus on something small. Picture a glass of whatever you like right in your hands..." He saw Bae trying to concetrate and then he saw the glass beginning to appear.
"Hold out your hands," Rumpel said quickly, and Bae found that a glass was really there. "Keep your eyes closed." Bae did so, and then when his father told him to open them, he saw a large glass of milk in his hands.
"That's incredible!" Bae exclaimed, but then he wanted to talk to his father alone. Doc left the room, and he explained to those watching from the outside what was happening and why Baelfire suddenly had magic.
"Papa, does this mean I'm the Dark One now?" Bae asked worried.
"You know, Son," he said, sitting down and showing Bae the knife. "I don't think so. Your name is not on this dagger, so no one can control you. You have the magic but not the curse that comes with it."
Bae knew that his father couldn't answer why that was, so he didn't even bother asking.
Belle entered the room just then, wanting to present an idea.
"You know, from what I've gathered around, you were a desperate man, Rumpelstiltskin," she said, sitting down. "Perhaps the magic knew it could control you, so you let it. But Baelfire, he doesn't seem like he would sucume to magic."
Baelfire then remembered something that an old sea captain told him long ago.
"You know, when I first arrived in this world-" Bae knew this brought back an deep, open wound, but he thought this was important. "I ran into this old sea captain, and as I was becoming sea sick from all the ship's rocking, I'd been asking him if the sea was just evil or I was actually sick. He told me that there was no such thing as evil..."
"How is that Bae? Without evil, there is no good," Rumpelstiltskin asked.
"Well, that's what I asked. And he told me that without good, there is no evil either. He said that evil was just another way of looking at something that is right."
"I'm confused," Belle said, wanting him to continue what he meant.
"Well, if we can't have good without evil or evil without good, then they are just two sides of one problem. Each side thinks they are fighting for the good side, it's just that not everyone sees everything the same way. So, we understand what we think is good and what we think is bad. Then he told me that the sea was both-that the sea was simply itself, and therefore acted as a sea should, so we had to adjust to the sea because it was the more powerful between the two of us. So the sea was never evil as I thought it was, it was just simply the sea," Baelfire explained. "Maybe the same applies with magic."
"Oh," Belle said, thinking she finally understood. "So, you're saying that there is no good magic and bad? You're saying that it's just magic?"
Bae nodded.
"It all depends on how I use it and what I think I use it for," Bae said. "I think."
Rumpelstiltskin, thinking upon this, realized that Bae actually did make a lot of sense. When he let his son go into the vortex, all of his energy was placed into finding his son. He thought that that was a good thing to do, the right thing to do because he felt he owed it to his son. When he created the curse for Regina, he thought it was good because it would help him find Bae, but everyone else didn't agree with this obviously because they didn't know his tale. No one did. When he first killed the Dark One, it was for pure power, and so the magic was able to become more powerful then him. Thus, he conformed to the magic; but Bae, his intention was never to have magic, so now that it was forced into him, the magic had to reform to him. He just had to learn how to control it.
"So, the magic of the Dark One was never really dark," Rumpelstiltskin said, looking down at the dagger. "That doesn't make sense. Your name should still appear on this dagger."
"I didn't kill anyone, Papa," Bae said. That was true. The magic forced itself into Bae when Rumpelstiltskin gave it up to save his life. "So why should it?"
"Wait, you aren't hurt by your own magic?" Doc asked, having to come into the room. "Didn't Regina put a spell on you still?"
"No, it was attached to me," Rumpel answered. "Of course he's not hurt! The magic is his now...not mine."
He knew that the magic was probably better off with his son anyway. The magic of the Dark One had not disappeared, Bae was right, but now he was stuck with the very thing he'd been against from the moment his father had it.
"Bae...I know it's not what you expected," Rumpel said, reaching for his son, however Bae looked down, refusing his father's hand.
"I'll just have to get used to it...besides we didn't know what would happen," Bae said, though internally he was exceedingly upset that magic was inside of him. Knowing that it was not evil calmed him, but his father had used it so wrongfully that all those images were engraved in his mind.
"It's okay. Maybe I'll learn something new about magic," Bae said. Belle knew that if Bae had magic, he would only use it for the better purpose. That glass of milk was probably the only thing Bae would conjure for himself out of pleasure, and even that was for training purposes too. He had a lot to learn.
"Wait, if Bae has your magic, then he has the same powers you did..." Belle said. "I know you need magic to stop Regina..."
"No!" Rumpelstiltskin said immediately, but Ruby had already caught wind of their conversation.
"Yes!" the wolf shot back. "It's our only chance! He has to do it. He can conjure the spell you were going to and stop the queen."
"No, are you mad? He's merely accepted the fact that he even has magic! There's no way he'll be able to conjure something powerful enough to defeat her," Rumpel contradicted. Then, he turned to Bae.
"We'll find another way," he told the boy, but Bae shook his head.
"I've tried that before," Baelfire replied. "Do you think I can do it, Papa?"
"With my magic...of course you can," Rumpel said. "But you're not=-"
"Then teach me. Teach me all you can, Papa. I want to help," Bae said.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Grumpy halted the party, pointing at the boy. "Not even a day ago you were in Regina's grasp fighting for your life, and now you want to help us fight back?"
The dwarf was clearly confused, but Baelfire nodded.
"Of course I want to help. If I am to have this magic it should be used for good and if this Evil Queen you all are calling Regina is truly the problem here, I should do everything I can because I see your side of what is good," Bae told the dwarf, making Grumpy smile. Bae's tone made it sound like he was arguing with them but he wasn't going to take it any longer.
Bae turned to Rumpelstiltskin, the look of a true knight shinning in his eyes. How could he refuse a chance to get back at Regina...and to train Bae in the ways of magic?