Chapter Fourteen - Do We Have A Deal, Dearie?

Hey hey hey! Dagger is back with another update for all you crazy people, so have no fear! ^-^ Hopefully you guys will enjoy it as much as you can, seeing as our favorite nixie is dead. You may argue that it wasn't necessary, but I promise, it really was for the plot/story. You'll find out why later. I promise his death wasn't meaningless though. c;

09Who knew90 : Aw, I'm sorry. ;-; It was more painful than you might think, having him be dead. I don't think I've ever killed him before (which is surprising, knowing me, as I always seem to be killing off every single character I can get my hands on sooner or later, or at least making it look like they're dead). And you think he was behind something? What do you think that would be? I won't confirm or deny anything, of course, but I'm interested to know. :3 I'm glad it's amazing, and I'm glad that having Temple show up was done well! I'm super excited to have him coming back, after such a brief appearance from him before that didn't even show all his motives or anything like that. And I'm glad the whole plan is going well so far as well, and that it's all been done magnificently. And I know, I'm sorry I killed Nix. :c My inner fangirl is screaming at my writer half, but what's done is done. I had to do what was necessary. I'm glad it was done well, and hopefully you enjoy this update!

Evx : Thank you so much for the compliment! You probably should be afraid for Mina. cx The poor girl is having a lot of issues. As for Teague, well, we'll have to see if he makes anymore appearances for awhile or not. ;p

I've rambled for long enough now though. Let's get this show on the road!

I scream again, clawing at the water as if it'll stop me from getting sucked in. I flail about, my scream turning into a sob of pure terror as I spin towards the center. I'm going to die like every Grimm girl before. I don't know why I ever thought I'd beat this curse. I hate Teague. I hate Jared. I hate my mom. I hate Ever. I hate everyone else who's contributed in giving me this lot and life as well. There's too many to list.

For some reason unknown to me - maybe human instinct - I force my eyes shut. Maybe that'll make it happen quicker. Maybe I'll die less painfully that way. I take a deep breathe, preparing for the worst, and that's when a miracle happens.

Someone grabs my wrist and jerks me out of the water.

I dangle in the air by my wrist, staring down at the whirlpool below and kicking my legs out of fright. I take a moment to stop so that my savior doesn't drop me. There's that sense of deja vu from when I tried to jump out of the tree in order to get Jared's attention. It doesn't seem likely that Teague would interfere now that the curse has begun though, would he? Even though I've begun to despise him, I can't help but hope he's just saved me again. I can almost imagine him yelling at me once again for being stupid.

I'm in for an even worse surprise though. "Miss me, love? Seems those slave traders failed to get you safely, but it's of little importance. I found you myself, and apparently, just in time."

I look upwards, and golden eyes meet my brown and gold ones. Suddenly, dying seems like a much better option as the guy grabs my other arm, pulling me up and grinning. I look over them quickly, and see that they're just as I remember. Golden hair. A golden earring. Golden clothes. Golden gloves. A dangerous grin.

Templestiltskin has reentered my life.

Mina's Point of View

I open my eyes to find that I'm surrounded by gold. I blink, trying to figure out what on earth is going on. Am I dead? This place certainly doesn't seem very real. I push myself off the cold, hard ground, feeling the gold with my fingers. It may not look real, but it feels real. I look around, and my eyes land on the man in the door way. That's when everything that happened comes rushing back to me, and I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Or, even better, go back to sleep and never wake up.

I'd been trying to escape from Scylla, and had tried to take Nix's body with me. In the process, I was nearly eaten by Charybdis, and lost Nix's body to her stomach. I was going to die myself, but then someone saved me. The man leaning against the door frame, to be more specific. Templestiltskin.

After he spoke and I saw him, I passed out.

"Glad to see you're awake." Temple grins at me, striding forward. He blends in with the gold walls, floors, furniture, and decor, so it's hard to watch him as he comes over. "We have lots of catching up to do, don't we?"

I shake my head. "No, no we don't."

He chuckles, as if I'm a little girl who needs to know about the bigger picture. Of course, I may be exactly that, but I don't really want to admit it. "Now, now, up you go, sweetheart."

He offers me his hand, which is gloved, but I glare at it. "I don't want to go anywhere with you."

He rolls his eyes at my response. "Well you don't really have much choice, do you? Come on."

He extends his hand once again, and after huffing, I take it and stand up on shaky legs. He pushes a strand of loose hair behind my ear, but I wince, remembering how my dream went. I expect it to burn and turn gold - even with him wearing gloves - but when it does, I relax. But only slightly. He doesn't release my hand, and sort of drags me along with him out of the room and down the hall. As we go, I look at the decoration as we pass. Everything is gold, and while it hurts my eyes still I have started to get slightly adjusted to it. There are plenty of statues that dot the hallways, and they all look quite lifelike. I'm kind of amazed at the skill that whoever made these statues had. They have to be a Fae.

"Admiring the artwork, are you, love?" Temple asks, and I give a shrug in response. "It's quite amazing how lifelike they still are when they're turned to gold, isn't it?"

I stop in my tracks, eyes widening in horror. "You mean-"

"You're quite adorable when you're scared." He winks, and my free hand bawls into a fist as I try to pull my other hand away, although it doesn't work.

"You awful excuse for a Fae!" I spit the words at him. "How could you do this to these Fae?"

He doesn't answer, strolling along till we reach one of a young girl who can't be much older than my age, if she is any older. She has the most terrified face I've ever seen, and I stare at her, trying to figure out why she looks familiar to me.

"I believe she was your aunt, if that's what you're wondering. On your father's side, of course." He offers me a small smirk, and I'm horrified.

In response, I try to punch him in the face. He grabs my wrist before it's even close to touching him though, and shakes his head. "Tut tut, Mina, darling. If you aren't careful, you might just be joining her in her fate. My father did a good job, and I fully intend to keep up the good work so that this place can stay decorated."

Forcing my mouth to shut so I can't give the response that I'm dying to, I proceed to get dragged along a bit further.

After awhile long of walking, Temple decides to start talking again. "My apologies for your friend that you were traveling with. He was a friend, correct? Not a boyfriend? I mean, it would explain why he was in the book either way, but it would make even more sense if he was a boyfriend."

I shake my head, taking a deep breathe. "No, he was just my friend."

My only friend, to be more specific. I sometimes imagined what it would be like if we ever became anything more, but I don't think it ever was going to happen. And now it's completely out of the picture.

"Well then, that's a shame. It's a shame that you weren't able to save him, wasn't it? And to top it off, you lost his body." He shakes his head. "Poor, poor you."

I clench my hand even tighter. "Can we just go on to another topic?"

"At least he was already dead when I rescued you. I didn't intend on keeping him alive." He says it so bluntly, and it's my breaking point.

I sink to the ground, landing on my knees. Hard. Tears come spilling out of my eyes, although not from the pain. No, I can barely feel it as the tears come, and I jerk my hand away from Temple as I shove my face into both of my hands. Finally, I do something I've been needing to do for a long time now.

I scream.

It's a horrendous sound, one that I'm sure could shatter eardrums. I scream for who knows how long, till my voice gives way and I slump down, sobbing. I can't do this anymore. I just want out.

I can hear Temple kneel down beside me, and he whispers, "Well look at that. You do have a breaking point. I was beginning to think you didn't." I continue to sob, not even caring at this point that everything he just did was to reduce me to this state. "Impressive scream. You actually stunned me with it." He pauses, and then gets back to business. "Now that you've finally been broken properly, I'm sure that we can begin to work out a deal."

I take a shaky breathe and shake my head.

He sighs, "Now now, this deal is both beneficial to you and to me, dear. You see, I want out of this stupid book, and I'm fully aware that you are supposed to find the exit, or die trying. And I'm sure you will. Now, if you allow me to follow you and exit the Grimorie as well, I will leave you alone. You'll never have to see my charming face again." He grins. "Now do you understand why this is beneficial to you? Once you're out, you'll never have to deal with me again." I highly doubt he'll actually uphold his side of the bargain though. "If you agree, you don't have to do anything. Simply breathe."

I know why he uses that, because it'll mean I have to agree. I briefly consider holding my breathe and killing myself in order to not agree, because at this point even death might be better than continuing with this stupid curse that has made my life even crappier than it was. But then I think about the fact that that gives Temple, Ever, and Prince Teague-Jared the satisfaction of winning. Not to mention in means Nix died for nothing. Slowly, I take a breathe, and then let out.

"I know you'd agree." He sounds way too cheery. It makes me sick. "Now, there is one more thing." I flinch as he clips something around my neck. "It's a necklace of sorts. You could also call it a collar." He takes too much glee in saying that too. I'm not an animal. "You see, I need to make sure that I'm close enough to get to the exit. This will ensure that. The farther away you are from me, the tighter it gets. Not only that, but it also will begin to burn. It wouldn't be a very pleasant experience, I'm sure."

All of that is definitely code for 'If you were going to try and back out of this deal by ditching me, think twice, because you'll likely die - or at least be hurt - in the process till you give up.'

"I don't think that's really necessar-" I begin, reaching up for my neck to try and pull it off, glancing down to see that it is gold.

I can hear the grin in his voice. "Don't worry, it is." After a pause that makes it seem like he's remembering something - but is probably only there for dramatic effect - he adds, "Oh, I almost forgot. Only the person who put it on you can take it off."

Crap.

Uh oh. What do you guys think of the mess Mina is in now? And what did you guys think of Templestiltskin? Please let me know in your reviews! I'm excited to keep updating this story, because I have some pretty interesting things planned! Someone especially interesting will be making an appearance soon, so I'll be interested to see if any of you figure out who they are. :3

Anyways, please review, and see you crazy fans next time! c;

~ Dagger