Chapter Fifty-Nine—"A Life for a Life"
By the time Rumplestiltskin and Belle arrived, Danns had already won.
"Do it!" the Queen of all Fae ordered, standing behind Regina with the Dark One's dagger held tightly against Regina's throat. The Evil Queen had clearly been caught by surprise; her eyes were wide and shocked enough to overcome even her typical fury.
Snow, David, and Robin stood two dozen or so feet away from that pair, not far from where Rumplestiltskin and Belle had appeared. Although Robin pointed his bow threateningly at the Black Fairy, arrow notched and ready, Danns seemed not to care. Snow and David both had swords in hand, but this was not a battle they could fight, let alone win.
"Maleficent—" Regina started.
"Do it now or she dies," Danns cut her off, hazel eyes fierce and just a little wild.
Useless magic leapt to Rumplestiltskin's hands even as he turned to look at Maleficent. The dagger was the one weapon he had no chance of taking away from Danns, and the Black Fairy had laid her other protective spells well. He could not rescue Regina without killing her, and there was not time to unravel the traps Danns had waiting. Damn her for delaying us! Of course Rumplestiltskin knew now what his enemy had done. He'd walked neatly into a trap, they all had, and Maleficent's purple eyes were full of that same knowledge. The fallen fairy's face was tight with grief and she spoke softly:
"I'm sorry, Regina."
Too late, Rumplestiltskin realized where Maleficent was standing. Too late, he recognized the intricately carved disk upon which she now crouched, inserting a triangle shaped key and turning it sharply. Danns had planned well, putting the entry to the Vault between her enemies and where she stood still threatening Regina. Had he arrived a few seconds earlier, Rumplestiltskin might have been able to stop Maleficent, but he hadn't, so now he could only watch helplessly. Gears moved, power awakened, and the process began. There was nothing he could do, but he still took a step forward, his eyes flashing to Danns as she smiled in triumph. Yes, this was what she wanted, damn the cost. She still held Regina tightly, and they looked back at Maleficent together.
Maleficent did not scream; she was too stubborn for that, and she obviously knew what was coming. But Rumplestiltskin could smell the flesh on her palm burning, and he could feel the magical transaction happening. A life for a life. He had not known exactly what it would take to resurrect a Dark One, but now as he watched the process, he understood with devastating clarity. Maleficent stumbled clear of the Vault even as oozing black darkness began rushing up to cover the disk-shaped entryway, bubbling and ominous.
He could feel the heat radiating off of the ooze from a dozen feet away, could sense the heavy and oppressive presence of pure evil. Pure darkness. How had he lived with that inside him for so long? Having been free of the curse for almost two years, Rumplestiltskin could now see what it was he had lived with for so many centuries. How had he managed to keep a small shred of his soul intact despite that darkness? He didn't know, but his time at the Vault with Danns had taught Rumplestiltskin a few things, including how very strong his former curse was here in this place.
His former curse.
It now belonged to another. The dregs of it would always be with him, would always stain his soul, but Rumplestiltskin was truly free. The ooze slowly became man-shaped, and a hunched over figure rose from the disk. The ooze dripped away, drop by drop, revealing a face that Rumplestiltskin had seen only once, almost three centuries previously. Then Zoso had been laughing, victorious and gloating. Now he looked confused, but either way, his was not a face Rumplestiltskin had ever expected to see again, except in his nightmares.
Maleficent collapsed as Zoso shook himself free of the remnants of the dark ooze, clad in ornate black robes that seemed to match the carvings on the Vault. The former—now current—Dark One looked around curiously, fury etched into his features until he caught sight of the many people watching him. Then a predatory smile curled into his lips, and Rumplestiltskin could just feel Zoso counting the ways in which he could make others suffer to pay for the many hellish years he had spent inside the Vault. The curse would demand it, would demand blood and terror and pain in payment for Zoso's own suffering…and Zoso was the type of man who would embrace that wholeheartedly. There was nothing that would make him hesitate, Rumplestiltskin knew. Nothing at all.
"Thank you for your assistance," Danns said dismissively, making Rumplestiltskin's gaze finally snap away from Zoso. The Black Fairy shoved Regina away contemptuously, and although Regina did pause to throw the fae a dirty look, she didn't bother to comment.
Instead, she quickly made her way to Maleficent's side, crouching by her old friend as Maleficent shook and struggled for air. Rumplestiltskin did not need to be a sorcerer to tell that the fallen fairy only had moments to live. What Zoso gained in strength, Maleficent lost, and Maleficent was fading fast.
"And yours," Danns continued, looking at Maleficent moments before she breathed her last. "It turns out that your little deception was useful after all. I suppose I should be grateful that I let it continue for so long."
"You'll pay for this," Regina swore in a snarl. Maleficent, for her part, only squeezed her friend's hand and let her eyes slide shut, and even from twenty feet away, her last breath was audible.
Danns just laughed.
"Regina," Rumplestiltskin said softly, gesturing for his former student to come towards them. She was in no-man's land now, closer to Zoso than anyone else, and between the others and Danns. It was a bad place to be if the fight Rumplestiltskin expected erupted, and, well, perhaps he was growing soft enough not to want to see her hurt. Not today, anyway. After a moment, she met his gaze and nodded, letting go of Maleficent's hand and rising out of her crouch.
But it was Zoso who turned towards the Evil Queen, his eyes suddenly alert and hungry. "Regina," he rumbled, rolling the name around as if to see how it tasted. "A sorceress."
"Who the hell are you?" Regina snapped.
"The Dark One," Zoso replied, licking his lips eagerly. Rumplestiltskin had heard stories of Zoso's depravities when he had been young in the Frontlands, but now he saw the horror up close and felt even his stomach roll. There had been lines even he had never crossed as the Dark One, but Zoso seemed to relish the idea of committing such atrocities. "You will come with me," Zoso told Regina, and no one doubted his intentions.
"Not today," Danns interrupted before Regina could reply, gliding forward gracefully.
"What?" Zoso twisted to face the Black Fairy, a sneer on his face.
"I did promise them safe conduct, after all," Danns replied with a shrug. "You'll abide by that…Zoso."
She held the dagger up with those words, clearly reading the name off the blade. Zoso twitched, and Rumplestiltskin felt an answering shiver run down his spine, watching the cloud drift over his predecessor—now successor's—expression and watching Danns' control sink in. Zoso was trapped and knew it; he could rage against Danns or he could submit quietly. Frankly, Rumplestiltskin did not care which he chose, and he had no intention of sticking around to watch the game play out.
"Did you enjoy your little show, dearie?" he sneered at Danns, stepping forward and letting power fill him. Hopefully, if it came down to it, Regina and Emma could hold off Zoso while he took care of Danns, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't going to place any bets. The Evil Queen and the Savior were powerful and decent at working with one another, but he had no idea how knowledgeable or even how old Zoso actually was. He was an absolute wildcard, and Rumplestiltskin did not leave his family's safety to chance. This was not the day to pick a fight.
"Quite," she replied serenely. "I did require something to tip the scales since you proved so uncooperative."
"I'm so very sorry to have disappointed you," he retorted, shrugging casually. "Or, actually, no, I'm not. In fact—"
"What have you done, Danns?" a new voice interrupted him, sounding shocked and sad like only the Blue Fairy could.
And she was late, as usual. Leave it to Ruel Ghrom to arrive after everything was said and done, and long after she could accomplish any good at all. Her last-minute appearance was depressingly typical, and Rumplestiltskin could not keep from rolling his eyes.
"Impeccable timing as ever, dearie," he snorted.
"Sister, I'm so glad you could join us," Danns spoke up before Blue could reply, floating forward with a welcoming smile on her face. "Although you missed all the fun."
"What have you done?" Blue repeated, looking at her sister disapprovingly as she transitioned from tiny to human-sized. "That curse embraced all of the darkness in creation! Why have you brought it back to contaminate our world?"
"I've done what is necessary," Danns retorted, still serene. "As I always do."
The two sisters faced one another, one expression horrified and the other gloating, while Rumplestiltskin felt rather like a referee at a particularly vicious sporting match, stuck in between them and unable to get out. Oh, part of him loved the idea of letting the two fairies duke it out until something gave, but his own recent experience with that sort of battle taught him that it was their world that would suffer, not either of the two of them. Even if one managed to kill the other—and his money was on Danns if that happened—both filled irreplaceable roles in the Enchanted Forest. The two chief fairies literally were the embodiment of light and darkness: light and dark in their original forms, not good or evil like people wanted to think of them nowadays. But someone would have to fill the role if either died, and it sure as hell wouldn't be Rumplestiltskin.
If those two were light and dark, Rumplestiltskin—like Merlin before him—was somewhere in between. Once, that would have been a laughable concept, but now he more or less accepted it, so long as he could think of himself as personifying something akin to original chaos. But that fit. Humans were the most chaotic elements in the Enchanted Forest, the most prone to change and discovery. The fairies, fae or not, were constant. Humans were anything but.
"You cannot think this is necessary!" Blue snapped. "When you created the curse of the Dark One, you at least removed an original power from play. Had you put it back in him"—she gestured angrily at Rumplestiltskin—"I might have supported that. But this? Danns, you are trying to alter the very nature of magic itself!"
The Black Fairy scoffed. "I am doing nothing of the sort. The Dark One will serve me, as he is meant to do. I am hardly going to let him off his leash."
"You can't—" Zoso started hotly, only to have the Black Fairy wave a hand at him. His mouth snapped shut, driven by the unspoken command. Zoso's eyes blazed.
"Do stay out of conversations between your betters," Danns told him archly.
Zoso snarled wordlessly, but it was clearly the best he could do. Rumplestiltskin, on the other hand, stepped forward, clearly interjecting himself into a conversation that he didn't feel was between his betters. Part of him hated the idea of playing this part, but things were only going to get worse if he didn't. The balance of power was shifting enough as things were. He could not allow the fairies to come to some sort of terms, particularly not when the one thing that was likely to unite them seemed to be removing Rumplestiltskin from play.
"Necessary or not, what she's done is give herself nothing more than another unpredictable pet," he told Blue. "Oh, he's more unconditionally loyal than the rest of the fae"—without his meaning them to, Rumplestiltskin's eyes flicked to the dagger—"but hardly any different in that respect. And, I gather that his power is rather more limited now, isn't it? Now he only has that elemental demon to draw upon."
The last bit was directed at Danns, and she scowled. "The Dark One's power was always supposed to be limited to that."
"And for most Dark Ones, it was," Blue added.
"Oops," Rumplestiltskin smiled nastily.
Silence fell; the three original powers stared at one another while the Dark One prowled behind the Black Fairy, bristling with barely restrained fury. The others, Rumplestiltskin's family and allies, watched from a slightly greater distance, but he knew they would not stay silent for long. Humans. We're ornery, unpredictable, and we love a good fight. And if he wasn't careful, this situation might quickly become that good fight, although which side Blue would take could be anyone's guess.
Now he understood the power dynamic before Merlin's supposed death. The two original fairies could balance one another if the third original power did not choose a side; then Danns had trapped Merlin into serving her, which had led Ruel Ghorm into eventually trapping Danns. The three of them could and should balance one another, but what happened if the two fairies decided to ally against him? He couldn't allow that to happen, even if he had to antagonize them both to do it.
"You have no right to that power," Blue snapped before Rumplestiltskin could decide how to either defuse the situation or make it explode.
"Better me than either of you. At least I'm human," he replied with another twisted smile.
"That hardly matters. You were never meant to be anything other than the Dark One. Humans do not require—"
"The ability to stand up for ourselves?" Rumplestiltskin cut her off. "I hate to disappoint you, dearie, but your perfect little world of fairy power is broken. And you can blame your beloved sister for that one. She's the one who pulled Zoso here from the Vault and recreated the curse."
Interestingly enough, those words did make Blue look back at Danns. "You had two chances. How did you fail twice?"
The magnitude of that question floored Rumplestiltskin, for he knew what the Blue Fairy meant. The Black Fairy had tried—and failed—twice to force the curse of the Dark One back into him. And now her sister was outright saying that she would have preferred that outcome to the current situation. He'd known Blue hated him, but even Rumplestiltskin was surprised to hear it said so plainly.
"Actually, I'm rather satisfied with my handiwork," Danns said contemplatively, glancing between the two of them and clearly relishing their animosity. Oh, she wasn't telling the complete truth; Rumplestiltskin knew she would have vastly preferred to re-chain Merlin's power to herself via that curse. But she was also very satisfied to see that her two enemies did not get along.
"How can you be?" Blue demanded.
Danns only laughed. "Farewell, sister. We will see one another again—although perhaps next time it will be me with the Heart in my hand."
The Black Fairy vanished in a swirl of silver smoke before Blue could respond, but not before Danns threw a significant smile Henry's way. Zoso disappeared with her, leaving Rumplestiltskin to face the brunt of the Blue Fairy's wrath.
"This is your doing."
"My doing?" Despite himself, Rumplestiltskin was rather surprised to hear her say that to his face. "What gives you that idea? I fought to keep that dagger, in case you weren't paying attention."
Blue rolled her eyes. "If you had not broken your curse, we would not be in this position."
"No, she'd likely have the dagger and I'd be putting my grandson's heart in your chest," he retorted with a sneer of his own, feeling his own temper rising. "Tell me how that would help anything."
"You would be controllable, and Merlin's power would still be contained!"
A hand landed on Rumplestiltskin's arm before he could respond hotly. Much to his surprise, it was Bae and not Belle who put a cork in his anger. His son had stepped up next to him along with the others, and it was Snow who spoke up for the group:
"No one can change the past, Blue," the young queen said earnestly. "You taught me that. We can only move forward from here. The Black Fairy is amassing power to take over the world. Will you help us fight her?"
Blue stiffened, obviously not expecting the request from the princess who she had watched over for so long. Of course, Blue had already promised that the fairies would do their part in combatting the fae, but she'd found her own loophole. Instead of personally leading them, Blue had sent Tink and Sugar Plum to do so in her stead, keeping to the letter of her promise but offering no more. Now Snow was asking her to truly help, to stand with those who were arrayed to fight back the rising powers of the Black Fairy…and Blue sniffed disgustedly.
"I cannot in good conscience ally myself with a man who tried to kill me," she replied.
"After you put him under a sleeping curse," Belle pointed out from Rumplestiltskin's other side.
"I will always do what must be done," Blue retorted, sounding suspiciously like her sister before she turned to glare at Rumplestiltskin. "Do not think that power cannot be stripped from you. It no longer belongs in this world."
And then she vanished, leaving the nine humans to stare at one another in shocked silence. Finally, Regina spoke up.
"So. There's another Dark One now, huh?"
Rumplestiltskin sighed; nothing good would come of this. "Indeed there is."
Sunset had long since passed by the time Regina finished burning Malefient's body. Robin had stayed with her, despite her protests, but she really was glad that he had. Saying goodbye to her best friend was hard enough without having to do so alone, and doing it in the Forbidden Fortress had proved even more heartbreaking. Regina didn't know who would claim Maleficent's castle now that the fallen fae was dead; Maleficent had lived there so long that even legends didn't recall who had owned the fortress before her. Regina supposed that she move there if she ever needed a bit of space away from her stepdaughter's kingdom—Maleficent certainly wouldn't mind—but right now, living in the same castle as Henry's other mother had its perks.
"The last time I was here, I was stealing gold," Robin said quietly, stepping up to put an arm around her while Regina stared blankly at the urn she'd sealed Maleficent's ashes in.
"She told me about that," Regina said softly, feeling rather numb. She'd already wept for her friend, so now what was she supposed to do? She was good at holding grudges, but true, heartfelt grief was not something she had allowed herself to feel for a long time. And guilt only compounded matters; Maleficent had died to save her life.
"I think I would have liked to know her better," her lover replied. "I know she was a good friend to you."
"The best." She gulped, and it sounded suspiciously like a sob. Evil queens didn't cry, but then, Regina wasn't really the Evil Queen any more, was she? She wasn't always sure what she was, but Maleficent had been her best friend, and Regina missed her. She had known that Maleficent's decision to go along to Tink and Rumplestiltskin's insane plan and become a spy could be dangerous, but Regina had somehow never imagined that Maleficent might actually die in the process. She was Maleficent. Nothing had ever seemed able to kill her.
Robin just wrapped his arms around her, and Regina just let herself cry. There was no way she would ever let anyone but Robin see her like this, because she was not the type to show weaknesses, thank you very much, but with him she could let go. She didn't know how long she sobbed for, only that she felt safe and whole in his arms, felt like she wasn't alone. Robin hadn't had to know her friend to be there for Regina, and right now, he was the rock she need, the strength she did not have. She had been able to burn her friend with steady hands, been able to place her ashes in a purple-stoned black urn that she knew Maleficent would like, but that was as far as Regina's strength went. Now she just needed someone to hold her.
Perhaps someday she would return to Maleficent's castle, or maybe she would even name a daughter for her. Wouldn't Maleficent find that funny? The daughter of an outlaw who once robbed her might just carry her name. Despite her grief, Regina found that the thought made her laugh softly, the giggles mixing in with her sobs as a smile wormed its way onto her face.
"What is it, love?" Robin asked softly.
"Marry me," Regina said instead of answering his question, leaning back to look into his very shocked eyes.
"I beg your pardon?" her earl-turned-outlaw stuttered.
"Marry me," Regina repeated, this time more forcefully. Her tears would dry. Maleficent would tell her to look towards the future, not the past, and Regina would damn well do so. "Life is too short to be alone."
Robin kissed her, hard, and Regina was pretty sure that meant yes. The next several moments were spent finding the many different ways they could answer that question without words, reveling in their closeness and being determined not to look back. Yes, they had both made many mistakes in their past. They had both loved and lost and learned to love again. This was their second chance, and neither was going to walk away from—
A cough made them break apart, magic flying to Regina's hands by instinct alone. No one should have been able to make it through Maleficent's still-standing wards, but there was a dark-haired woman staring at them. No, there was a dark-haired fae staring at them, holding her hands far away from her body in a conciliatory gesture of peace. She didn't seem to be working magic, either, but with a fae Regina knew it was always hard to tell. They didn't need wands to do spells, and every muscle in Regina's body tensed for action.
"Who the hell are you?" she demanded. Snarled, more like. Who was this fae to interrupt her admittedly very untraditional proposal?
"You are Regina, yes?" the fae asked instead of answering, and something in her broken expression that gave Regina pause when she was about to snap something hostile.
"I am," she responded instead of shouting. But she didn't lower her own magical readiness, either.
"My name is Vidia," was the soft answer, and Regina saw the fae glancing around the castle, looking a little lost. "Maleficent was my…friend, also. She told me about you."
That made an eyebrow go up. "Did she, now?"
"Yes," Vidia replied, biting her lip before continuing: "I knew she was spying, and I understood why. Our Lady…she will push things too far until there is no balance remaining. I want to help."
"Come again?" Regina blinked hard, unable to believe her ears.
"I want to help," Vidia repeated.
"Wait a minute," Robin interjected incredulously. "Are you saying that you want to pick up where Maleficent left off? You want to spy on your fellow fae for the Grand Alliance?"
"No." Vidia met both their gazes squarely, her chin coming up proudly. "I want to do it for Maleficent. And for the sake of our world."
Well. If that wasn't one of the craziest things Regina had ever heard, it at least gave the others some very stiff competition. But she wasn't one to let opportunity pass her by; Regina had long since learned to take control of any situation that even seemed to need it, so she did so here. Soon enough, she had worked out way for Vidia to contact her—hopefully one that left her less open to discovery than it had Maleficent, but from what Vidia said, the Black Fairy had been watching Maleficent from the very beginning and just waiting to spring her trap. But Vidia was clearly more trusted than Maleficent had ever been; she was one of the fae's own, and Vidia seemed confident that no one would ever suspect her.
Perhaps, Maleficent had not died in vain, furious though Regina was by knowing that her friend had saved her life by sacrificing her own. Perhaps she lived on, after all.
A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on the last chapter! It's amazing to hear that so many readers are still with me as we approach the end of this wild ride. We've got three chapters and the epilogue left to go! In the meantime, what do you think Zoso will do in this new life of his, and will anyone manage to kill him?
Next up is Chapter 60: "A Contract Broken," in which Blue makes one final attempt to defeat her sister and puts Henry in danger once more.