Chapter Eighteen: Fighting Fire with Baelfire
Rumpel knew he didn't have a lot of time, so there wasn't much he could teach Bae. He tried to outline some tips in his head about the properties of magic.
"Okay, Son, this is probably going to be the most important," Rumpel said. "It's not very hard, but you're going to need it."
He'd taken Baelfire out of the hospital and back to the pawn shop, partially carrying him along the way.
"What is it?" the boy asked as he watched his father rummage through drawers and shelves.
"Well, I can't be carrying you onto the field of battle now can I?" Rumpel took out a book from the shelf, searching for another.
"No," Bae replied, watching his father.
"Then, if what you say is true, and that any magic can be used for either good or bad, then your magic is probably the most deadly on this earth."
Bae only blinked, a little nervous at what his father was telling him so far.
Rumpelstiltskin dropped two heavy books onto his desk, which he'd cleared off the previous day, not knowing this is what he'd do next with it. He explained to Bae that one of the books was healing magic, and the other was a compilation of other various spells. Bae flipped through the first book, asking his father how he was supposed to read all of this.
"I know you can read some of it," Rumpelstiltskin said. "I'm sure you've looked into my books without my knowledge before."
At that, Bae's expression faltered a little. His father pointed a finger at him in banter.
"Ah!" his father said.
"But I only did it because-" Bae began.
"Neh neh! Nehnehneh," Rumpelstiltskin said. "I don't want to hear it. Now, this is the one I want you to learn."
They spent hours together, as much time as they could, in the pawn shop, looking at many healing spells, Rumpelstiltskin held up the dagger, wanting Bae to test it out. Rumpelstiltskin held it to his arm.
"Papa!" Bae exclaimed. "Why must you do this?"
"I'm teaching you. You're going to heal me. When Regina hurts you in battle, and she won't be afraid to, believe me Bae, I want you to know how to heal yourself, whether it be broken bones or deep cuts. You have to be on your guard."
Rumpelstiltskin slit a gash onto his wrist, barely flinching. His pain tolerance had grown very high.
Bae, knowing that he wanted to heal his father, glanced at the book and then placed his head over his father's arm, reminded of when he was the one sitting in the chair needing the medicine. He did as his father instructed him to, not saying any of the words to the spells, only thinking about them and arranging them in his mind.
The boy not longer shut his eyes, for Rumpel forbid it since his first conjuring. When they saw the wound begin to close, Bae's eyes lit up. He was learning. The Dark One's magic was not, in any reality, dark at all. It was myth, a legend that was over exaggerated because each time someone became the Dark One, they did not want the price of the magic that came along with it. Like Rumpelstiltskin was, they too were desperate souls, but now that Bae had the magic, he seemed to accept it for what it was.
Rumpel slit himself again, telling his son to try a different spell. Quickly, Bae thought about the words in the first spell he'd used and then placed other words in his mind relating to what type of healing he wanted. He was making his own magic spells, though they were probably written down somewhere in a book, just in a different order.
He could see the look of surprise and pride in his father's eyes as he healed another injury.
Rumpel thought that was enough for healing magic, but Bae was persistent.
"Can I heal Dopey?" Bae asked his father. "It would give me practice for a broken bone."
Rumpelstiltskin gave into this, knowing it would only make the boy more prepared. Bae himself was able to walk normally now because of the magic itself inside of him. This must have been how his father never limped after he became the Dark One. Still, Rumpelstiltskin could not get over the fact that the dagger was blank. It was as if the Dark One's curse had disappeared.
As they walked from the pawn shop, Bae began to question the laws of magic once again.
"Hey Papa, remember when you told me that all magic comes with a price?" Bae asked. Rumpel looked at his son, waiting for him to further explain.
"Well, if I'm using all this magic, then what will the price be?" Bae asked.
"Bae, the price of magic is like a fine print of a contract," Mr. Gold began. "I always expected something in return for my services."
"So, if I don't want anything in return," Bae pondered. "Then that means there is no price for anyone to pay?"
"Bae, I don't know. I gave up the magic to save you. The price of the magic was it was taken from me and given to you. Right now, you are only scratching the surface of what you can do. There is no price for healing magic, that I know. You're the one in control now, Bae. You can do whatever you please with the magic. Just know that if you come across anyone asking you to make someone fall in love, it cannot be done."
"You bottled love," Bae pointed out.
"Because I knew how to do it," Rumpel said. "And where to get my resources."
"You were always good at manipulating people," Bae sighed, though Rumpel didn't know if that was a compliment or a tone of disproval.
The two walked into the hospital, asking for Dopey. When Doc led them into the room where the dwarf was lying with Grumpy and Sneezy, they grew cautious. After explaining Bae's purpose, Grumpy stood up, not sure what to think of all this.
"You say it yourself," he pointed to Bae's father. "All magic comes with a price. How do we know we won't be the one paying it?"
"Because with me, there would have been one," Rumpel snapped, stepping forward. "The tides have turned, dearie. My son isn't even the Dark One."
Grumpy stepped down, for although Mr. Gold no longer possessed magic, he was still a frightening and dangerous person. Bae walked over to Dopey, sitting on the bed and sighing.
"This won't hurt," the boy told Dopey. "I promise."
The dwarf looked at Bae, seeing a pure intent of good, and he still stared as the boy placed his hand over his broken leg. So fascinated was Dopey at the glow of purple around Bae's hand, that he didn't even think about what was going on. Bae announced that the magic should have set in, the dwarves looked at each other.
Grumpy ran to fetch Doc, demanding that the cast on Dopey come off. Doc shook his head, but after Bae's plight, Dopey's leg was free. Since Bae enacted the magic, he also offered to help Dopey stand. At first, Dopey stood on his good leg only, but Bae encouraged him to let the other one down. Gaining enough courage and trust in Baelfire, Dopey put down his leg.
"If you fall, I'll catch you," Bae promised, and as he held Dopey's hands, the dwarf walked forward, finding that with each step, it was as though his leg was never broken.
"Are you okay, Dopey?" Doc asked in shock. The dwarf nodded his head up and down over and over again, a smile coming upon his face. Bae smiled wide too, seeing that his efforts were paying off.
Bae released Dopey's hands, and Dopey proceeded to hug Bae, nearly tripping over his feet he was so happy his pain was gone. Bae hugged the dwarf in return.
"You're welcome," Bae replied. "Thank you for letting me practice my magic too." Doc's eyes widened.
"He can heal broken bones?" Doc asked, feeling his glasses fall down his nose a little.
"Of course he can," Rumpelstiltskin said proudly. "We're just experimenting with what I can teach him before Regina come back around."
"I don't think we should wait," Ruby said, walking out on all fours. "We should chase her. She could come back far worse, and then we'll never have a chance!"
"Unless we catch her off guard," Doc suggested, taking of his glasses and walking into the circle of people in Dopey's room. "She doesn't know Bae has taken over Rumpelstiltskin's power. We could let her figure that out for herself, but by then, it'll have been too late."
"Whatcha thinkin' Doc?" Sneezy asked.
"Well, can people of magic sense others that have magic?" Doc asked Rumpel.
"Fairies can, I know that," Rumpel replied in slight annoyance. "But no, I don't think she'd even notice. Bae's essence was always touched by magic."
Doc huddled them all in to explain his plan to them, but although the plan was pretty well thought out, Rumpel wanted more time. He wanted to teach Bae more than just healing magic before he went out to fight the queen. Before all of them went to fight the queen. Of course, Grumpy demanded to know how much time Rumpel had in mind, but of course, Rumpel didn't have an exact for him.
However, Rumpel also knew that if Regina wanted to, she could have easily come back and killed Bae. The fact she did not do such indicated to Rumpelstiltskin that her grudge was still against him, and Bae was just leverage. Since his son now possessed the magic, they could get in close.
He told Grumpy he only needed six hours, five at the least, to teach Bae what he was going to do to Regina. He took the vile Ruby collected from Regina out of his pocket, holding it up for all to see, turning to Bae.
"This has Regina's magic in it. She was born with it, therefore it flows through her veins and with this, you can destroy her. But first, you have mix it with a few things. You cannot practice with it, you can only learn how to do it," Rumpel explained.
"Will this have a price?" Bae asked.
"Yes," Rumpel replied. "This is no child's play. If you do this right, your own magic will become severely weak for about two months I was guessing. I've never done this before either. By severely weak I mean don't use it."
Bae pulled his father to the side, not wanting anyone to hear what he had to say next. Not that his encouragement was their business to listen to anyway.
"What if I screw up?" Bae asked, worry in his eyes. His father looked him straight in the eyes, smiled definitively, and then spoke with certainty.
"You won't."