Chapter 15

Belle knew something had happed, but for a long moment she didn't open her eyes. She wasn't consciously sure why, but she felt dread creeping into her, and she shivered. Wherever she was, it was cold, and she could tell through the lack of light penetrating her eyelids that it was dark.

Hoping for the best but fearing the worst, Belle slowly opened her eyes. She had been right, it was dark. And damp, too. She was surrounded by dark brick walls, and it reminded her of the time she had spent in the Queen's tower as her prisoner. Shivering again, Belle pushed her memories to the back of her mind and tried to get ahold of herself.

Where am I? She wondered. She had meant to end up in the Queen's castle, but she didn't know if it had worked. Obviously, her magic had taken her somewhere, but she wasn't able to control it well enough to know exactly where she had gone.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get any answers just standing there, Belle approached the large wooden door that resembled the one that had kept her locked away from the rest of the world for so very long. She reached for the handle, but hesitated before her hand reached it. What could be on the other side of that door? Did she really want to find out?

Regardless of her fears, Belle knew what she had to do, and took a deep breath, letting her hand fall slowly onto the brass handle of the door. Be brave, Belle, she told herself, you can do this. Slowly, Belle turned the handle and gently pushed the door open. She winced when it gave a loud squeak, and then froze until the echoes of it had receded down the stairwell that was in front of her.

So I am in the tower. The realization wasn't a welcome one. Belle had no desire to be back in this place. Consciously, she knew it meant nothing. The Queen wasn't here; no one was going to lock her in the tower any more.

But subconsciously, she couldn't help but feel afraid. This was the room that she had been held captive, the place where she had felt the most powerless she had ever been. Even when she had been in the dungeon of the Dark Castle, she knew she had leverage over her gaoler. But here, in this room, she had known she was a prisoner, and she had no chance of ever escaping. Memories like that don't just fade away.

Belle stood there for a moment, in the doorway of the room she had been locked in. You need to face your fears, she told herself, willing herself to be as heroic as the heroes in the stories. Steeling herself against her fears, Belle picked her head up, turned around, and walked back into the room. She cautiously walked over to the wall where her cot had been, and found it was still there.

She sat down on it, and then she looked at the wall above it. It was too dark to see anything, so she ran her hand across the wall, feeling the grooves from where she had tried to keep track of the days during her confinement.

When her hand hit the last of the grooves, Belle turned and looked once more at the door. The door she had watched anxiously for days, always hoping it would open, but fearing who might come through. Belle closed her eyes and remembered the days she had spent here, and how much she had changed throughout the time. At first, she had been convinced someone would come to rescue her, either Rumple or Gaston or her father, but someone. Every time the door began to open she had hoped it was someone who would get her away from here, get her back to the people she loved.

Then, as the days dragged on, she began to lose hope. When the door would creak open, she stopped looking up in hope, getting annoyed with the way the guards laughed at her when they brought her meals and saw the disappointment on her face.

Then, as she struggled to cling onto the last of her hope, the pirate had come. He had come looking for a way to kill the Dark One. Most of her memories of that day and the following few were fuzzy, but Belle knew that was the moment she had lost all hope. If the pirate had killed Rumple, no one was ever going to come save her. And, if they did, he would be gone. What would she have to go back to? An arranged marriage to a man she didn't love?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and Belle lost track of the time she had spent reliving the worst part of her life. As painful as it was, she found she felt better afterward. Her time in the Queen's Castle was a demon she had never had the courage to deal with, and now that she had the chance to be honest with herself about it, she felt better.

But she also felt angry. Angry that Regina had locked her in here for years, and yet she lived happily in Storybrooke with her son. Angry that Hook had hurt her, more than once, and threatened Rumple, and yet he got to have Emma. And she and Rumple lost Neal. How was that fair?

As Belle began to give in to her anger, she noticed the room get brighter. Surprised, she pulled herself out of her reverie, and glanced down at her hands. They were glowing! Belle was confused for a minute, until she realized what was happening.

She was letting her emotions control her, and when she did that she let her magic control her, too. Afraid of what she might do, Belle stood up and walked out of the room as quickly as she could, watching in relief as the glowing magic in her hands faded away into the darkness.

Taking a deep breath, Belle saw only one option available to her, so she began to walk down the old spiral staircase in front of her. She didn't know where to go; she wasn't even familiar with the layout of the castle, but she figured walking around was better than sitting in the tower doing nothing.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Belle tried to come up with some sort of cohesive plan. What was she looking for? Well, Rumple had come here to confront Merlin about the changing ending of the book, and she had followed him. So, what, was she looking for signs of his magic? Signs that he'd been here, or was still here?

Or should she try to find Merlin instead? She had met him that day by the stream, but he had just looked like an old man. Belle had no idea if that was what he really looked like or not, she figured it could have been a disguise.

Belle wandered around for a while, but she never came across a single sign that anyone had been there. Sighing, Belle reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out Henry's book. It had told her to come here, so maybe it had some information on what to do next, too.

Belle flipped through the book hopefully, but when she reached the end, the pages were once again blank. It ended with the picture of Rumple appearing in a magical storm at the castle, but after that there was nothing.

But something was different. Before, when Belle had first found the ending of the book to be blank, the pages had been white. Now they were black. Frowning, Belle flipped all the way to the back, and was dismayed to find that all the pages were dark. It was as if the book had been converted to dark magic.

But that was ridiculous, right? The book had been a part of the curse, so it had to have been created with dark magic in the first place. But, it had been the way the curse was going to be broken, so maybe it was an element of light magic? And dark magic had taken it over?

The more she thought about it, the more her theories sounded ridiculous. Belle had no idea how the book worked, or what kind of magic it was. You have a lot to learn, she chastised herself. She wished that before she had gotten herself into all this she had done proper research. She should have read some books, asked more questions, something. But it had all happened so fast, and she was so determined to help save Baelfire that it hadn't really occurred to her to spend time researching magic.

No use spending time regretting it now, she sighed to herself. Putting the book back in her bag, Belle continued to wander around the castle, not sure what she would find.

As she approached the main hall, however, Belle remembered what Rumple had told her about Merlin's plans. He needed a book. And it was in the Queen's library. That's where she needed to go! Belle smiled as she realized she had the beginnings of a plan, and looked at her surroundings with new purpose.

After a second of enthusiasm, however, Belle realized one fatal flaw in that plan: she had no idea where the library was. Moreover, it was said to be shrouded by magic, so only someone with magic equally as powerful could find it. Belle was sure her magic wasn't that powerful.

Disappointed, she frowned, and then turned and walked out onto a balcony that was off the side of the great hall. She hugged her cloak tighter around her as she walked out into the autumn air, and looked at the surrounding countryside. It was a spectacular view, but there wasn't much to see anymore. The land really had been ravaged by the ogre wars.

Ogres weren't Belle's favorite topic of conversation, so she shook her head and walked back into the castle. Just as she did so, she heard a loud bang come from her right, and she instinctively jumped.

Once the initial shock passed, Belle grew curious, and hurried down the corridor to her right. She ran into two large wooden doors, held together with two spears crossed through the handles. Frowning, Belle pulled on the bottom of the left spear, and was relieved when it gave way without too much effort.

When she had cleared the spears out of the way, Belle threw open the doors and blinked when she was confronted by a bright light. The entire castle had been utterly dark, and Belle's unaccustomed eyes squeezed shut.

She opened them to slits, trying to see, but the light was so blinding she couldn't make out anything. She was aware of searing heat hitting her face and arms, and she began to back toward the door she had come through. Against her natural instincts, however, Belle forced herself to stay where she was and open her eyes a little at a time as she struggled to adjust to the light.

Suddenly, however, the light dimmed until its brightness was bearable, and the heat died away as well. Belle opened her eyes, and when she did, she gasped. "Rumple?!" She called. The figure in the corner of the room was her husband, but the look on his face was one that instantly filled her with foreboding.

"Belle!" He yelled back. "Belle, what are you doing here?"

"Oh Rumple!" She yelled, running to him. "I followed you?" Seeing his look get even darker as she approached, Belle slowed down until she came to a stop right in front of him "What's wrong?" she asked, and he glanced at the floor. "Rumple, what's going on?'

The agonized look on his face filled Belle with fear, and she reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. When she did, however, her hand went through him. "Rumple?" She cried, realizing he was starting to fade.

"I'm so sorry, Belle," he whispered, "I failed. Come find me, Belle…" And then he was gone.

For a shocked second Belle just stood there. "Rumple?" she whispered, but the room had gone black, and he was gone yet again.