Chapter Twenty-Three—"Original Powers"

The day after the christening that she had obviously chosen not to attend, Reul Ghorm returned to the Dark Castle. This time, she sent word ahead through Tinker Bell rather than trying to sneak in, a courtesy that kept Rumplestiltskin from allowing the wards to wrap her up in nastiness that he wouldn't have regretted one bit. He'd taken those same defenses down for the christening, of course, because it wouldn't have done to fry one of the people the Charmings had invited, but they were back up at full strength now, and Rumplestiltskin had a good enough read on both major fairies to know that they'd both have difficulties breaching them. Had Snow not come to him personally to let him know that Blue wanted to meet with her, he probably would have been tempted to keep the defenses intact, but the young queen was clearly trying to include him.

In fact, she'd outright invited Rumplestiltskin to come to the meeting that Reul Ghorm had requested, and didn't that say interesting things about who the Charmings had decided to trust. Then again, he'd just gone toe-to-toe with the Black Fairy, which might have had just a little to do with Snow's decision to trust him. Particularly since the Charmings had no inkling of the nightmares that encounter was still giving him—all they knew was that he'd undone the magic that the Black Fairy had left behind, had stood up to her and stopped her. They didn't need to know how afraid he'd been.

Of course, the Charmings hadn't just invited him. The group they assembled had arrayed themselves around the long table in the great hall in an interesting fashion; Rumplestiltskin had expected this to be a family affair, with a few wildcards thrown in for good measure, but instead he found himself joining in the Charming family war council. It was an odd experience, only slightly mollified by the fact that Regina looked almost as put out by some of the others' presences as he did. She'd just fetched Charming back from the army a few minutes earlier, but looking at Regina, it was impossible to tell.

Rumplestiltskin sat at one end, with Snow across from him. Bae sat to his left, with Emma and Henry coming next, and then Regina, of course, on Henry's other side. Tinker Bell sat next to Regina, determinedly looking more human than fairy, and if Rumplestiltskin could read her angry expression correctly, she hadn't at all liked what was in the book Belle had shared with her. Standing, Hook lurked somewhere between Emma and Henry, seeming unhappy that he hadn't been offered a seat at the table. To the pirate's left, Robin Hood stood behind Regina's chair, leaning casually against its high back and smiling down at her in a manner that practically screamed True Love at the top of its lungs. Last on that side of the table was Jiminy Cricket, and the little green conscience was truly on the table, complete with a ridiculous looking speaking horn.

Half-seriously, Rumplestiltskin contemplated offering to give Jiminy something smaller with which to both translate and amplify his voice with, but the green bug seemed perfectly cheerful, so he left it well enough alone. He was flying near Snow's shoulder right now and undoubtedly saying something to make the young queen happy, because the drawn expression on Snow's face eased a little bit.

Charming sat to Snow's left, of course, with King Hubert and then Queen Leah (unwelcome guests, both of them; Rumplestiltskin really did wish he could send those monarchs out of his castle, but instinct told him they were better kept an eye on than ignored). Granny—who invited an old woman, former werewolf or not, to their war council?—sat next to Philip's mother. Leah seemed rather put out to be seated next to a peasant woman, however, which immediately endeared the former innkeeper to Rumplestiltskin. Red stood between her grandmother and Belle, who was talking quietly with her at the moment, though she stole glances at Rumplestiltskin from time to time since she was sitting to his right. Last but not least was Grumpy, standing near Charming and Snow but obviously too miserable to want to really join into this meeting.

Something twinged in the vicinity of Rumplestiltskin's oft-misused heart. He'd never liked any fairies on principle, but he'd actually been a little fond of Astrid, given how the girl had turned her back on Reul Ghorm's fanatical rules and found True Love. She deserved better than to be murdered by a fae, and though he probably wouldn't have felt a bit of regret on her behalf were it not for the hangdog look now on her True Love's face, Rumplestiltskin did think it was a waste. And he knew better than anyone that Grumpy would never be the same again, no matter how hard his friends tried to be there for him. Loss of a True Love left scars no amount of time could erase.

Regina met his eyes briefly, and he could see her remembering her own pain, remembering what had driven her to vengeance and evil. Rumplestiltskin gave her a slight nod; she didn't want his pity any more than he wanted hers, but understanding they could manage. Then the outlaw squeezed Regina's shoulder, and Rumplestiltskin saw the shadow of old pain ease. A smile quirked on his face once he saw how the obviously intimate gesture irritated King Hubert—but then, that was the same king who'd looked at Baelfire like he was mud on his boot, so Rumplestiltskin was more than happy to see him feeling a little discomfited. Intellectually, he knew that the people who hadn't been transported to Storybrooke would have a hard time relating to those that had, but it was still always nice to watch a stuck-up royal have to deal with the fact that peasants—and outlaws—could think, too.

"She's late," Regina muttered darkly a moment later. Never a patient one, her scowl was growing deeper despite Robin's best efforts to soothe her.

"I'm sure it's not intentional," Tink started to say, only to have the Evil Queen cut her off acidly.

"Don't make excuses for her, Tink. The Blue Bug has already demonstrated the contempt she holds us mere humans in."

"I'm not making excuses," the fairy retorted without rancor. "But I am interested to hear what explanations Blue says she has. I think that's worth waiting for."

Heads nodded around the table, and although Rumplestiltskin completely agreed with Regina's feelings on the matter, he held his peace. Both major fairies had shown their contempt for humanity over the years; Reul Ghorm thought they were children to be protected, and Danns' a'Bhàis felt they were toys to be played with. Not that he'd been too terribly much better over the years. But while Rumplestiltskin had manipulated others and moved pieces around a centuries' old chessboard, the one thing he'd never done was force anyone to do his bidding or lie to them about what choices they had.

"We'll hear her out," Snow reminded everyone, sharing a long look with Regina before shifting her gaze to Rumplestiltskin.

"I'm hardly the type to precipitously start a fight, dearie," he answered her unspoken question. "So long as Reul Ghorm doesn't try to touch our mutual grandson, she's perfectly safe from me."

Henry smiled tightly in response to that, and Rumplestiltskin gave his grandson a nod. The boy was nervous, and rightly so—it wasn't every day that the most powerful of all fairies wanted to steal a thirteen year old's heart. Emma squeezed her son's hand briefly, and the fiercely protective expression returned to Regina's face.

"Thanks, Grandpa," Henry said quietly, and Rumplestiltskin smiled. He would have had to have been more of a monster than he'd ever been to not be touched by the way his grandson had so easily included him within his family. Rumplestiltskin knew he wasn't an easy man to get along with, and although he was devoutly grateful that he'd never been anything less than kind to Henry, even when the boy had just been Regina's adopted son, having Henry look his way with trust and affection was still heartwarming.

"Of course, Henry."

The short exchange seemed to make Hubert start; the older king exchanged an unreadable glance with Queen Leah, but said nothing. Shifting slightly, Rumplestiltskin turned to watch the pair of them, raising an eyebrow and contemplating if it was worth being obnoxious or not. Under his curse, he'd never have been able to stop himself, but at the moment he could actually understand that there were reasons to be more politic than he usually chose to be. Noticing his glance, Charming caught his eye and nodded slightly, conveying that he, too, was watching the other pair of royals.

Well, then. No reason to let those two think that they were suspicious. Better to let the two hang themselves, eventually. In the meantime, however, Rumplestiltskin made a mental note to throw a spell or two their way and keep track of the pair. Prince Philip seemed a decent enough sort, and while Princess Aurora was certainly no warrior princess, she'd been friendly enough towards Belle that Rumplestiltskin preferred to think that she wasn't involved in whatever it was their parents were planning. Still, the quartet (quintet, if one counted the child Aurora had birthed several months earlier) was worth watching. Particularly given the fact that Philip and Aurora had been so thoroughly under the Witch's thumb when the others had arrived in the Enchanted Forest. Months had passed before Philip even admitted that to Snow and Charming, Rumplestiltskin had learned from Belle, and although Philip and Aurora seemed to be on their side now, anything could change in a war like this.

While he'd been musing, their guest arrived, floating into the room, resplendent in glowing blue and utterly sparkling. Still in midair, Reul Ghorm offered the assembled monarchs a regal nod.

"Your Majesties."

Oh, she was good. Blue always had been better at catering to peoples' egos than he was, and far better than her sister at that, too. Hubert in particular responded well to the flattery, and even Charming's suspicious glance was somewhat mollified. Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure who had told Charming what concerning Blue's last visit, but judging from the young king's expression, it hadn't been terribly flattering towards the fairy. Snow, of course, still looked like she wanted to believe her family's old patron, but even she didn't appear ready to trust everything Blue said without question.

In fact, Snow glanced his way before speaking, obviously feeling that he had a better right to start this off than she did—after all, it was his castle. Slightly surprised, but pleased, Rumplestiltskin waved a hand for her to take the lead. He had no desire to have an extended conversation with Reul Ghorm, anyway. It would be likely to turn nasty quickly, particularly given that he knew from Merlin's memories exactly what she wanted to do with Henry's heart.

"We appreciate that you've come despite how busy you are," Snow said calmly. Regally. "Since you sent word that you wanted to speak with us, why don't you begin?"

"Thank you." She wore that maternal smile, of course, and Rumplestiltskin had to glance at Snow to make sure it wasn't doing its usual good job of bamboozling the queen. Of course, he wasn't the least biased observer when it came to fairies, but even a fool knew now that Reul Ghorm was more than capable of manipulating people to meet her own ends.

I wonder… The thought sprang on him without warning, and suddenly Rumplestiltskin found himself remembering shouting at her almost three hundred years ago, swearing that he'd find a way to get to his son—and listening to her tell him that there was no way, save a curse. She'd led him right into that solution, too. Hadn't she? His eyes narrowed, and Belle shot him a worried look. Resolutely, Rumplestiltskin resolved to work on that puzzle later and focus on the present.

"I heard what happened at the Christening," Blue continued, hovering near Charming's left shoulder. "I was glad to hear that no one was hurt."

Most people in the room at least glanced Rumplestiltskin's way; tellingly, Blue did not.

"But now you must understand how imperative it is to contain the Black Fairy," Blue said next. "What you saw is just a fraction of the evil she is capable of. If she is not stopped, she will hurt an incalculable number of people."

"We're with you so far," Charming replied bluntly. "But I don't see what this has to do with Henry's heart."

Blue's response was immediate, and almost painful in how earnest it was. "The Heart of the Truest Believer is the only power strong enough to keep the Black Fairy in exile. I am sorry that it is Henry's heart; I wish it were not so. But for the good of all, the Black Fairy must be stopped, and this is the only way. We are talking about the fate of our entire world, not just the life of one boy." She turned to look at Henry, neatly avoiding glancing at any of his parents. "And you will live, Henry. For centuries, even. And the fairies will keep you safe."

"No. Wait a minute here," Regina cut in, glaring at the fairy. "You're talking about living without a heart. I know better than anyone how that's hardly a life at all. And what will you do to keep him safe, imprison him?"

"Of course not. We have a place prepared already, where Henry would have every comfort—"

"Away from his family." Now it was Emma's turn to interrupt.

"It is regrettable, but necessary. The Black Fairy and the fae are also hunting the Heart of the Truest Believer. I do not believe that she knows who that heart belongs to yet, but once she learns, the Black Fairy will stop at nothing to capture Henry. When she does, the conditions under which she keeps him will be far more unpleasant. And she will also take his heart."

"I'd like to see either of you try," Rumplestiltskin said mildly, lounging back in his chair as if he didn't have a care in the world. The Blue Fairy whirled to face him, and for a moment he saw a hint of panic in her brown eyes.

"Obviously, this cannot be done without Henry's consent," she said as she recovered, looking at Snow and Charming again. As if they'd even want to make this decision on their own. "But it is the only way to save our world. I am sorry that stopping the Black Fairy comes at such a high price, but it is a price that must be paid."

"Wait a minute. If you had her exiled last time, how did she escape? And why at such a convenient time?" Charming asked.

"It does seem strange that her escape comes so soon after the curse breaking, and right around the same time we all returned to the Enchanted Forest," Snow added.

Rumplestiltskin didn't bother resisting the urge to smile. His pet prince and princess were at it again, showing that they were indeed brilliant enough to lead this war effort—just as they always had been. There were times they drove him crazy, but they'd been worth the work. The Blue Fairy, however, took a deep breath and admitted:

"The last Truest Believer was killed shortly before the curse was cast, by agents of the Witch. Once that happened, we knew that she was working with the Black Fairy, and probably had been for some time."

"And yet you're trying to tell us that Henry will be safe? Sell me another lie, please," Regina snorted. "Make it a better one."

"What would you do with my heart?" Henry asked suddenly.

The fairy turned to face him, smiling gently. "I would have to put it inside the Black Fairy, after using spells to bind it to her. Once those spells were complete, she would be unable to remove your heart, and unable to leave the exile she is sent to. She would be isolated from her magic as well. But unlike what Pan did to you, this would not kill you, Henry. You would be safe, and live a very comfortable life."

"You're forgetting to mention that you'd have to catch her first, dearie." It was definitely time to intervene, though Rumplestiltskin made no move to adjust his relaxed position. "And unless I miss my guess, Danns' a'Bhàis might be a bit adverse to walking into your traps. Particularly since you let her people kill the last Truest Believer and she's loose for the first time in centuries."

"That matter is already well in hand." Blue's scowl was a haughty; from her height, she could look down at the mere human who'd dared meddle in fairy affairs, and she did. "It is not your concern."

Rumplestiltskin chuckled softly, but his mind was racing behind an outwardly calm exterior. He wasn't a man whose nature allowed for easy sharing of information, but perhaps it was time to throw caution to the wind. "If you want them to trust you, you have to trust them, too," Henry had told him, and his grandson had always been oddly perceptive. Snow had promised to trust him after he'd stopped the Black Fairy…but if Blue played her cards right and Rumplestiltskin said nothing, Blue could present herself as the only one who could possibly help them—and Henry would be her price.

Not while I'm breathing, he won't be. I don't care if the fate of the world is at stake. She's not ripping my grandson's heart out.

"We both know it is, dear," he replied coolly. "Let's stop playing games, shall we? You know what I am as well as I do, what power was hidden behind my curse. The game's hardly the same now, as your sister well knows. The fae have come out with her, and the moment you took Henry's heart, he'd be targeted by every last one of them."

Blue's eyes narrowed; she glared. Rumplestiltskin finally stood, his gaze never leaving hers, and walked over to stand an arm's length away from the still-flying fairy.

"Your old methods won't work. You waited too long, and you can't put this genie back in the bottle. Not now. We're entering a new age, Reul Ghorm, one you've ushered in."

"This isn't my doing," she retorted, suddenly fierce. "You waited too long. If you'd pushed the curse to be cast—or cast it yourself!—sooner, Henry would have been born earlier. And none of this would have come to pass."

Those angry words stunned him into silence before he could grasp their enormous significance. Rumplestiltskin's mind whirled, but Belle caught the reference faster than he did, and suddenly she spoke up incredulously:

"You meant for this to happen," Belle accused the Blue Fairy, her voice growing sharper by the second. "You wanted the curse because Henry's the price."

"What?" a half-dozen voices echoed, Regina's the loudest amongst them. Henry, however, only looked between all three of his parents, eyes wide and understanding. He really was such a bright boy. Rumplestiltskin, however, suddenly felt cold.

Belle continued before Blue could get a word in edgewise, looking at the others and explaining: "It makes perfect sense. Henry is the son of the Savior. Rumplestiltskin wrote the curse to find Baelfire, who is Henry's father. And the woman who cast the curse adopted him. Henry is the price." She swung back to face Blue. "You planned that when you told Rumple that a curse would take him to the Land Without Magic. You knew Henry would be the Truest Believer."

For all his Sight, Rumplestiltskin had never seen that—but then, it was always harder to See events that stemmed from those closest to him. Had the Seer not told him he'd find Baelfire, Rumplestiltskin might never have Seen that for himself; after all, he'd never known that he'd fall in love with Belle, and he'd not had a clue that he'd wind up with a grandson. An ability to see the future was far from infallible, and though he usually managed to pick out the important bits, he'd never even considered this. Yet now it all made sense. Perfect, horrifying sense.

And they call me the monster.

"I have always done what is required to keep our world safe," Blue replied loftily. It was not an apology. Not at all.

"You planned this?" Unsurprisingly, it was Regina who snarled the words, rising from her seat at the table and glaring at Blue. "You planned for a child to be born so that you could use him?"

Had Robin not had his hand on her shoulders, Regina probably would have strode forward and tried to throttle the fairy with her bare hands. To her left, Tinker Bell looked utterly horrified, her eyes wide and staring at her superior. Even the Charmings looked like they'd been struck speechless, and it was Baelfire who spoke up next, his voice shaking with rage.

"You never meant to help me at all, did you?" Rumplestiltskin's son demanded as his own mind wrapped around a swirling green vortex, around a promise for a better life, of a lie about a world where he and his son could escape from his curse. Even before the Dark Curse had been broken, he'd heard the whispers of the Dark One inside his mind. They'd been quieter, but they'd been there ever since he'd remembered who he was. The Land Without Magic had been no solution to his curse. Reul Ghorm had set them all up, had destroyed his family as part of her plan. Bae continued, his voice growing harder with each word: "This is what you wanted. You wanted to send me to another world at fourteen years old so that my father would write that curse. So that you could get him to rip the world apart for you."

Rumplestiltskin had never wanted to kill someone so badly in his entire life, but he stopped himself even as power rose to do his bidding, making his fingers tingle ominously. A wind rose in the room before he could put a lid on the magic, whipping at tapestries and artifacts. His rage had always been a tangible thing, but now with this power at his disposal, it was particularly dangerous. Wait, Rumplestiltskin told himself with an effort, hating that he had to. He could kill Reul Ghorm, he knew. Oh, it took something special to kill an Original Power, but Charming still wore Excalibur, which would do the trick nicely.

"I think we have a problem, ladies and gents," Hook spoke up, looking around the room nervously as the wind grew harder and colder, tearing one painting half off a wall and making a window to Rumplestiltskin's right creak.

It would have been so easy. Power like no human had embraced since Merlin's capture reared up within Rumplestiltskin, ready and willing to crush the Blue Fairy. But—and the knowledge burned—he needed her to balance out her sister. Because he didn't want to take her self-appointed place in the world. She could play at being the original goodness all she wanted. Rumplestiltskin preferred to remain in the middle.

"Welcome to your brave new world, dearie," he sneered at her instead of voicing his own thoughts. The wind slowed slightly, but did not die; he was still too furious to stop it. "And now you get to live in it with the rest of us."

"I am not here to argue with anyone," Blue retorted, her eyes seeking out each person around the table in turn. "But you are overlooking the most important fact: if I do not take Henry's heart and keep him safe, the Black Fairy will, and she will do far worse."

"I will kill either one of you if you so much as try," Rumplestiltskin growled softly, pleased to see how her head whipped around to stare at him, though the calculation that ripped through her eyes was less than gratifying. "This is the only warning you get. And don't think I don't know how."

A pin dropping would have sounded deafening in that room; only Blue was brazen enough to say:

"You would not dare."

He laughed again, soft and dangerous. "Would I not?" Rumplestiltskin stepped very close to her, closing the distance between them in one long stride, and the wind picked up again. He was holding onto his temper by a very thin thread, and the power wanted to let it loose. "I'm not Merlin, dear. I don't have his…fascination with doing what's right. You're threatening my grandson, and I've never had a problem killing fairies."

Reul Ghorm had never lacked courage; the threat made her blink, but her chin jutted forward stubbornly and she looked Rumplestiltskin right in the eye. Her voice was steady, although she didn't look to be enjoying what she said at all. Truth be told, Rumplestiltskin didn't much like it, either, but he'd not grown into someone who'd manipulated an entire world into doing his bidding without facing up to the fact that certain necessities were distasteful.

"What exactly are you suggesting, then?"

"Stop preparing to trap Danns' a'Bhàis. You'll never duplicate the circumstances that allowed you to do it last time. Work with us. She"—he jabbed a finger at a startled Tinker Bell—"shouldn't be the only fairy who gives a damn about the people you supposedly want to protect. Be what you're supposed to be, Reul Ghorm."

"And if I choose to withdraw the fairies from this conflict instead?" the Blue Fairy asked coolly.

"Then don't be surprised when we don't do a damn thing to help you," Regina answered, and Rumplestiltskin stepped away from Blue with a knowing smile. He just quirked an eyebrow at the fairy when his former student answered for him, and she glared back.

"We'd rather work with you than against you," Charming spoke up, his tone reasonable but his expression implacable as he, too, rose to his feet. For once, Rumplestiltskin appeared to be on the side of the angels—how unsettling. Snow added:

"Answer this for me, please. If you were to take Henry's heart, could you guarantee that the war would end? That the fae would stop killing, and the Witch would be defeated?"

"Child, I—"

"That's a no," Emma cut in. "I've heard enough. I'm with Rumplestiltskin. You come near Henry, and you're dead."

United opposition from the Charming family finally seemed to rattle Blue, but she gathered herself to speak directly to Snow. "There will come a time when you need my help, and you will know what needs to be done."

On that note, Reul Ghorm departed, flying out the doors that Rumplestiltskin helpfully flicked open with a touch of his magic. Still scowling, Regina lowered herself back into her chair, but Rumplestiltskin chose to remain standing, feeling rage and power rush through himself, the pent up heartbreak of years threatening to shake him to his very core. His choices had been his own—and yet Belle had to right. Reul Ghorm had used him as thoroughly as he'd used anyone else, and she'd sentenced his son to years of hell in Neverland to do so. The monster still inside him really regretted not killing her.

A harder gust of wind whipped around the room, just for a moment, before he could rein his temper back in. This ends here, Rumplestiltskin promised himself, fury lending the thought sharp-edged clarity. No matter what I have to do, this ends here. Fairy manipulation had ruined his son's life. In a rather less than abstract way, it had ruined him as well, for if the Black Fairy had never created that damned curse, he'd never have become the monster Bae had feared so much. Without the fairies playing their damn games, he and Regina would never have ripped the world apart between them, either. Those facts didn't absolve either of them, of course, but having made their own choices did not mean the fairies were blameless.

"That went about as well as could be expected," Charming finally spoke up drolly. Regina and several others snorted. Hubert and Leah just looked stunned. Snow, however, turned to look at Rumplestiltskin as finally shoved his fury into a bottle.

"What do you mean, you're 'not Merlin'?"

A/N: So, what do you think the Blue Fairy will do now? Will she help, or will she pull the fairies out of the conflict all together and hope she can protect her people from the fae? Perhaps more importantly, do you think Rumplestiltskin's going to lose control of his temper and just kill her?

Stay tuned for Chapter 24: "Out of Book", in which Rumplestiltskin starts to play the long game and Emma plans a mission to find the Janus Stone. Kudos to those who can figure out what the title references, and in the meantime, please let me know what you think!