"Rumple!" Belle shook him frantically, but there was not a twitch of response. She had woken up beside him in a strange bed in a strange house; well, not so much a bed as a low wooden platform covered with a couple of heavy woolen blankets and not so much a house as a hovel built out of stone and rough timbers. A hovel with a dirt floor, as she discovered when she sat up properly and took stock of her surroundings. Sunlight slanted in through a window and an open doorway, illuminating dust and a barely furnished room. "What is this place?"

"You might call it a shrine," came the answer from the doorway. A man moved into the open frame: tall and thin, his skin unnaturally white while his eyes and ragged clothes were the color of raw night.

"A shrine?" Belle peered at the stranger in bewilderment. "To whom?"

"To me." The man stepped inside. "I am Morpheus."

"The Shaper!" gasped Belle in recognition. He was the god of dreams.

The man bent his head in acknowledgement. "And you, of course, are the Lady Belle." He gestured. "Just as he is Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One."

She moved protectively in front of her sleeping husband. "Did you — did you do this to him?"

Morpheus shrugged elegantly. "He came here. He summoned me and requested that I wake you and give you my protection."

"How? There is no cure for the Sleeping Curse except..." Belle bit her lip and glanced down at Rumple's face. Asleep, he looked all too human, nothing like the demon that had terrorized the Enchanted Forest. Unable to resist a sudden stab of hope, she bent down, closing her eyes as she pressed her lips against his.

"He will not wake." The cold voice of Morpheus shattered her thoughts. "We made an agreement. Even without true love's kiss, an exchange can be made, if I permit it. He is in my domain now, and thus a great evil has been removed from the world. Why would you wish him awake?"

Belle threw up her head and glared at the god of dreams. "I love him!" But it wasn't enough, whether it was her failing or his: true love's kiss had not worked for them this time. "I still... love him."

"This is a love that will only darken your soul," Morpheus said. "If you stay with him, he will make a monster of you."

"No!" Belle shook her head, but her traitorous thoughts could not help but agree with Morpheus. The images from the netherworld flashed again through her mind. Fate had driven an innocent spinner down a dark path, a darkness that had swallowed everyone around him.

"How many monsters has he created?" Morpheus pressed on relentlessly. "Consider his students: Cora, Regina, Zelena. Even Prince James: born a shepherd, but raised to become a murderer due to Rumplestiltskin's meddling."

"They made their own choices," argued Belle. "He didn't force them to be villains."

"But he manipulated them. Showed them the way, pushed them to take that first step. Then the next. And the next. Even Snow White killed for him. Even you."

"Gaston... but Rumple didn't make me do that," insisted Belle. "I was the one who stopped Rumple..."

"He had time to spare, if he truly meant to throw Gaston into the River of Souls. Instead, he waited. Waited for you to find him."

"No. No, he never meant for me to...he couldn't have." She shivered. The cold words of the god of dreams cast a shadow across her heart. Was he telling the truth? Or was this some trick? Hades had been their enemy. What about Morpheus?

"'Intent is meaningless.' Do you know who likes to say that? He does. It doesn't matter what he wants. Darkness corrupts everything he does or doesn't do."

"No. I don't believe that. I won't." Belle wrapped her hands around Rumplestiltskin's right hand and held it tightly. "There is good in him."

"Leave him. This is the only peace he can have, his best ending. Leave him now, and the world will call you a hero."

"I can't leave him like this. He sacrificed himself for me, for our child."

"Will you let your child grow up in darkness?"

Belle dropped her gaze, but she didn't release her grip on her husband's hand. "I don't know if I can stay with him. But that doesn't mean I won't fight for him." She took a deep breath, gathering her resolve before she was able to continue. "He... he made a deal with you? Then let me make one, too. What price do you want for waking him up?"

Morpheus was silent for a long time. Belle waited, praying that he would not refuse her. Finally, he spoke again. "There is one thing."

"What?" breathed Belle.

"The Hourglass of Chronos. It was taken from me long ago and hidden away in a domain whose very nature is inimical to my own. If you retrieve it for me, I can use it to revive him."

Belle frowned. No matter how many books she read, there was always more obscure lore than she could keep up with. She had never heard of this 'Hourglass of Chronos'. "Where is it?"

"In the Land Without Stories."

She had never heard of that, either. "So, I find this hourglass for you, and you promise to wake up Rumplestiltskin?"

"Yes. We are agreed, then?"

There was no question. Belle nodded firmly. "Yes."

"There are no roads there," Morpheus warned her. "You must make your own path, paving it step by step, word by word, with stories."

"What stories?"

"All your stories. One place is the same as any other in that land. Without stories, there is no difference, no meaning. Therefore you must create your own, and that is the road that will lead you to your destination."

"But how will I know which way to go?" Belle shook her head, still not sure what Morpheus meant. "Is there a map?"

"If you love him, you will find a way. As long as you care, your heart will guide you." Morpheus gestured at the back wall of his shrine. A vortex of white light opened up.

Belle took a tentative step forward, recognizing a portal when she saw one. "How far away is it to the hourglass?"

"How long is a piece of string?"

"Oh, well, that's a helpful answer." Belle rolled her eyes. "So what happens if I run out of stories before I find the Hourglass of Chronos?"

"Then you must retrace your path back to the portal."

"And give up my quest? No! I would never do that. That's not what a hero does," insisted Belle.

"Then you will be lost forever. If you leave the path, you become nothing but a random cloud of meaningless events," said Morpheus dispassionately. "Not even your shade will remain."

Belle stared into the portal. "Then I won't let that happen." She took another step forward. "I have a good memory and a lifetime of books. Let's hope that's enough."

"One more thing. Should your throat feel dry..." Morpheus reached into the air and drew out a waterskin. "Water from the springs of Yggdrasil. May it bring you wisdom and luck."

Belle hesitated before accepting it. "And the price?"

Morpheus shook his head. "Your husband has already paid. I promised to protect you, and this is the only protection I can extend to you while you are in that land."

Belle sighed. "Fine." She took the waterskin and looped its strap around her neck. "Right. Here goes."